When a matrimonial case involves the plea for the dissolution/nullity of marriage, the courts should make all efforts to dispose it of within an outer limit of one year so that in the event of granting such a decree the parties may restructure their lives, said the High Court of Karnataka.
Justice Krishna S. Dixit issued the direction while disposing of a petition filed by a man, who had sought a direction to a Family Court in Bengaluru to decide his application, filed way back in 2016 seeking dissolution of marriage with his spouse.
“It hardly needs to be stated that ‘life is lost in living’. Delay in disposal of such cases very badly affects the parties thereto, needs no deliberation,” the court observed while quoting Thomas Carlyle, a British historian and philosopher of great repute who had said, “Life is too short to be little.”
Right to speedy justice
Agreeing with the petitioner’s contention that he has a right to speedy justice under the Article 21 of the Constitution as per the apex court’s interpretation, the High Court said, “It is broadly in agreement with the proposition that matrimonial causes should be tried and disposed of on a war footing, at least as a concession to the shortness of human life.”
While directing the Family Court to dispose of the petitioner’s application within an outer limit of three months, the High Court directed its Registrar-General to circulate the judgment to all the trial courts so that similarly placed litigants may not unnecessarily knock at the doors of the High Court seeking a direction for the expeditious disposal of their cases.
