ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT
[Division Bench]
Arpit Garg v/s Ayushi 2019 (1) MMLJ 760 # D/d 06/5/2019 First App. No. 115 of 2019
Hindu Marriage Act, Sections 13B and 14 — Divorce petition — Mutual Consent — Filed within less than a period of one year — Wife filed an application to grant leave u/s 14 of the Act, 1955—Divorce petition rejected by Court below as premature and cannot be waived u/s 14—Hence, present appeal — Held, Section 13B is an independent section by itself — Section 14 of the Act engrafts a very important qualification on the general rule laid down in the section that no petition for dissolution of marriage by a decree of divorce can be entertained by the court before the statutory period expires — The scheme of the Act clearly indicates that Section 13B cannot be read along with Section 14 of the Act and the proviso to section 14 by no stretch of imagination will be applicable in the matters of mutual divorce by consent — The period of separation of one year as provided under Section 13B is mandatory — No illegality or infirmity in the impugned order — Appeal is dismissed.
