According to the information provided, the Supreme Court has held that it can exercise its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant a decree of divorce to consenting parties in cases of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, even if the six-month period prescribed under the Hindu Marriage Act is dispensed with.
The case was referred to a five-judge Bench nearly five years ago, and after hearing arguments, the Constitution Bench reserved its judgment on September 29, 2022.
The verdict came in a batch of petitions concerning the use of the top court’s plenary powers to dissolve a marriage between consenting parties without referral to family courts to wait for the mandatory period prescribed under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act.