Thane Family Court grants divorce in 30 minutes for couple

The court granted the divorce in record time to help both parties end the decade-long battle. Representation pic

In a one-of-a-kind verdict, the Thane Family Court granted divorce within 30 minutes to a senior citizen couple caught in various litigations for over a decade. In fact, it was the court that advised both the parties to consider a mutual divorce when they had approached the National Lok Adalat on May 7 over their pending litigations. Both the husband, aged 73, and wife, aged 65, accepted the court's advice, and filed for a mutual divorce around 1.30 pm on May 9 which was granted by 2 pm.

The legal battle between the man and woman started in 2012 when the wife filed a case before the Thane Family Court seeking maintenance as she started living separately. Since then, both the parties filed four different cases including one of domestic abuse.

The senior citizen couple had filed 4 cases against each other over 10 years. Representation pic

The man, already a senior citizen at the time of filing the case, had to travel all the way from south Bombay to Thane for the hearings, and felt exhausted. Accordingly, the couple approached the National Lok Adalat, and sought relief from the decade-long battle. The panel then counselled the couple and their lawyers, and asked them to consider filing for a mutual divorce, to free them of this prolonged litigation and the related cost.

The septuagenarian husband said, "I was totally exhausted physically, mentally and financially while chasing the cases. The process had taken a heavy toll on my kids too." Advocate Ramrao Jagtap, who represented the woman, said, "Both the parties were counselled. They were asked how long they would continue the fight. The judge also told them that this had to end for both of them to have a peaceful life. Both our clients agreed as it would end the decade-long legal battle."

Accordingly, the couple, in keeping with the terms set by the National Lok Adalat, filed a petition for mutual divorce on May 9 at 1.30 pm and principal judge S N Rukme granted the divorce within 30 minutes following the legal procedure. The husband said, "I am thankful to the judge for considering my suffering and finalising the divorce in such a short span."

Advocate Ashok Shahani, lawyer for the man, said, "This is probably the first instance where the court has disposed of a petition on the same day by invoking the ratio of the judgements of the Apex court with a view to mitigate the suffering of the parties in the cases where the marriage is a dead one for all practical purposes."

Speaking on the speedy redress, he said, "This helps the parties who are otherwise stuck in a morass of litigation to come out of the same expeditiously, as well as bringing down the arrears of pending cases."

2012
Year when the first case was filed

7
Day in May that the couple approached the National Lok Adalat