The Supreme Court of India has dissolved the marriage of an NRI couple after noting that the relationship had completely broken down and the spouses had lived separately for nearly eighteen years. The Court also ruled that a divorce granted earlier by a US court could not be treated as legally binding under Indian law.
A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta passed the order while hearing an appeal filed by the husband challenging a Bombay High Court decision that had upheld the jurisdiction of a US court in the matter.
Background of the Case
The case involved Kishorekumar Mohan Kale vs Kashmira Kale. The couple married in Mumbai on 25 December 2005 according to Hindu rites and rituals. Soon after the wedding, they began living in the United States where the husband held a green card.
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In 2008, the relationship deteriorated. The wife filed for divorce before the Circuit Court for the County of Oakland in Michigan, USA, alleging a breakdown of the marriage. The US court granted a divorce decree in February 2009 and divided the couple’s property between them.
Meanwhile, the husband had already filed a divorce petition before the Family Court in Pune under the Hindu Marriage Act, claiming that the couple’s matrimonial home was in Pune during their visits to India.
The Pune Family Court accepted jurisdiction, but the Bombay High Court later set aside that order, observing that the couple had lived together last in the United States and therefore the US court had jurisdiction. The husband then approached the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court examined whether the foreign divorce decree could be recognized under Indian law.
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The bench referred to the precedent in Y. Narasimha Rao v. Y. Venkata Lakshmi, which sets conditions for recognizing foreign divorce decrees under Section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
According to the Court, such a decree is valid only if the divorce is granted on grounds recognized by the matrimonial law governing the parties and if the other spouse has effectively participated in the proceedings.
In the present case, the US court had granted divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, which is not a statutory ground under the Hindu Marriage Act.
The Court also noted that the husband had merely sent a written objection to the US court’s jurisdiction and did not actively participate in the proceedings.
“The foreign decree does not satisfy the conditions laid down for recognition under Indian law,” the bench observed.
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While holding that the foreign divorce decree could not be treated as legally conclusive, the Supreme Court observed that the parties had been living separately since 2008 and there was no possibility of reconciliation.
The bench stated,
“It is evident that the marriage has irretrievably broken down and no matrimonial bond survives between the parties.”
Invoking its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Court granted a decree of divorce to bring the long-standing dispute to an end.
The Court allowed the appeal, set aside the Bombay High Court’s judgment dated 4 March 2010, and directed that the marriage between the parties stands dissolved. The divorce petition pending before the Pune Family Court was also ordered to be closed.
Case Title: Kishorekumar Mohan Kale v. Kashmira Kale
Case Number: Civil Appeal No. 1342 of 2013
Decision Date: 15 January 2026
