The Allahabad High Court has ruled that when two parties agree to file for divorce by mutual consent after living separately for over a year, the period of separation before the agreement remains valid under the law. The Court made it clear that the meeting of minds to divorce during separation does not cancel the earlier separation period.

Case Background

The case involved a couple married in 2004, who had three children. After disputes arose, they began living separately from 12th January 2022. On 1st August 2023, with the help of elders, they agreed to file for divorce by mutual consent. However, the Family Court dismissed their petition, mistakenly counting the separation from the date of agreement, 2nd August 2023.

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The bench of Justice Arindam Sinha and Justice Avnish Saxena explained:

"Requirement under sub-section (1) in section 13-B is for separation of one year or more before the petition is presented. During the period of separation, in event there is agreement to file for divorce by mutual consent, unless there is proof that parties, for the agreement or thereafter stayed together, the meeting of minds to petition for divorce by mutual consent does not militate against them living separately at the time of agreement made during the separation."​

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Both parties, present in Court, confirmed they had been separated since January 2022, had no physical relations since 2013, and had no claims against each other, agreeing that custody of the children would remain with the mother.

The Court emphasized:

"Cause of action is a bundle of facts and merely because the parties decided to file for mutual divorce on 1st August 2023, it cannot be said that the parties were together on that date."​

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After verifying the facts, the High Court found that the mandatory six-month cooling-off period had also been respected. Hence, it dissolved the marriage under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and directed that the divorce decree be drawn immediately.

Case Title: Smt. Minakshi Gupta v. Kailash Chandra [FIRST APPEAL DEFECTIVE No. - 207 of 2025]