V.K.GUPTA versus NIRMALA GUPTA

Citation: [1980] 1 S.C.R. 506 · Decided: 04-09-1979 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: V.R. KRISHNA IYER · Disposal: Hearing Adjourned
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Judgment (excerpt)

A 
B 
506 
V.K.GUPTA 
v. 
NIRMALA GUPTA 
September 4, 1979 
[V. R. KRISHNA !YER AND P. N. SHJNGHAL, JJ.] 
Hindu Marriage Act 1958-S. 13 (1) (b )-Dissolution of 1narriage--Re-
conciliation of a ruptured marriage-Judge aided by counsel to strain to the 
unnost-Judicial monitoring a salutary prophylactic. 
C 
The husband (petitioner) sought a decree for divorce of his wife (ree-
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
pondent) under Sec. 13(1)(b) of the Hindu Marriage Act.. 
The single Judge 
and the Division Bench of the High Court did not grant dissolution of the 
marriaJ;?e. 
In the Special Leave Petition to this Court, 
HELD : 1. The benign perspective which the Court must bring to bear 
upon a matrimonial cause is the resolution of the conflict between the parties 
and eventual restoration of the conjugal home. 
The first essay of the judge 
aided by counsel is that of reconciliation of the ruptured marriage. 
[S07C] 
2. The sanctity of marriage is the foundation of civilisation and therefore 
Court and counsel owe a duty to society to strain to the utmost to repair 
the snapped relations between the parties. 
The task becomes more insistent 
when an innocent off-spring. struggles in between the disputed parents. Judicial 
monitoring is a salutary prophylactic. [507D, 508D] 
In the instant case the minor frictions which got distorted into disruption 
being really the wear and tear of wedded fabric and there being a child 
whose future is to be largely moulded by the sweetness and survival of the 
wedlock, the Court impressed upon counsel and the parties for resolution 
of the conflict and restoration of the conjugal home. 
They responded, put 
in their statements and the Court directed the husband and wife (petitioner 
and respondent) to live together in terms of their statements and hopefully, 
never to separate until death do them part. The Court further granted three 
months time to know whether the marriage is back on 
its wheels 
to run 
smoothly. [507G-508q 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Special Leave Petition (Civil) 
No. 3661 /78. 
From the Judgment and Order dated 9-5-1978 of the Delhi High 
Court in L.P.A. No. 41/78. 
A. K. Gupta for the Petitioner. 
N. D. Garg and T. L. Garg for the Respondent. 
I 
• 
v. K. GUPTA v. NIRMALA GUPTA (Krishna Iyer, !.) 
507 
The Order of the Court was delivered by 
KRISHNA IYER, J. 
Upon hearing counscl, the Court passed the 
following order : 
This matrimonial litigation, where a husband (the petitioner) 
unsuccessfully tried to get a decree for divorce 
of his 
wife 
(the 
respondent) under Section 13(1) (b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, has 
landed in this Court as a petition for special leave to appeal. Custo-
mary ac~usations on both sides were made in the pleadings 
and 
evidence, but the High Court (both the single judge and 
the 
division bench) did not grant dissolution of marriage. When we beard 
counsel on both sides on a preliminary basis we impressed upon them 
the benign perspective which the Court must bring to bear upon a 
matrimonial cause. It is fundamental that reconciliation of a ruptured 
marriage is the first essay of the judge, aided by counsel in this noble 
adventure. The sanctity of marriage is, in essence, the foundation of 
civilisation and, therefore, Court and counsel owe a duty to society to 
strain to the utmost to repair the snapped relations between the parties. 
This task becomes morn insistent when an innocent off-spring of the 
wedding struggles in between the disputed parents. In the present case, 
there is a child, quite young, the marriage itself being young. 
We have had the advantage of responsive counsel on both sides 
who shared the spirit .of our suggestion, worked on the minds of their 
clients and healed a wounded situation into a healthy rapproachment. 
What is equally noteworthy is the circumstance that the parties them-
•dves reacted sensitively and constructively. Naturally, 
there 
was 
initial resistance, mistrust, apprehension and, therefore, a string of 
conditions in arriving at a consensus between the parties. At the end 
of this conciliatory journey, it was possible to reach a happy desti-
nation resulting in the resolution of the conflict between the parties and 
eventual restoration of the conjugal home. 
Today, counsel on both sides put in 
statements which we 
are 
recording in the proceedings. In substance, both husband and wife are 
basically agreed upon living together with the ardour and lover of 
partners in life. The minor frictions w
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