The Indian Supreme Court ruled on Monday that it has the power to grant a divorce decree to consenting parties in cases of irretrievable breakdown of a marriage. The court's decision was made under Article 142 of the Constitution. This ruling came in the case of Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan. The ruling means that couples can legally divorce in less time than required. The bench consisted of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S Oka, Vikram Nath, and JK Maheshwari. The Indian Supreme Court has ruled that it cannot use its full powers to dissolve a marriage between consenting parties without first referring the case to family courts for the mandatory waiting period prescribed by the Hindu Marriage Act.
Supreme Court can now grant divorce using the powers under Article 142.
