Patna: The Patna High Court has ruled that couples seeking divorce by mutual consent under Section 13(B) of the Hindu Marriage Act must have lived separately for at least one year, holding that the requirement is a mandatory precondition and cannot be waived.
A division bench comprising Justice Nani Tagia and Justice Alok Kumar Pandey delivered the judgment in the case of Kumari Vagisha v Kumar Sangam, while upholding a Family Court order from Shivhar that had rejected the couple’s petition.
The couple had jointly approached the court seeking dissolution of their marriage by mutual consent. However, the Family Court dismissed the plea on the grounds that they had not been living separately for the statutory minimum period of one year.
During proceedings, the husband acknowledged that the marriage had taken place on March 15, 2023, and the divorce petition was filed on May 11, 2023 — well short of the required separation period.
Reiterating the legal threshold, the High Court observed that “living separately” does not merely mean physical separation, but the complete cessation of marital relations between spouses. If conjugal relations continue within the one-year period, the requirement is not satisfied.
The court said the statutory condition under Section 13(B) must be strictly complied with before a decree of divorce by mutual consent can be granted, and dismissed the appeal.
