Read-down of mutual consent divorce separation period upheld; joint petition maintained after one year of separation.

Section 10A(1) of the Divorce Act, 1869 was considered in light of a constitutional challenge to the two-year separation requirement for divorce by mutual consent. The analysis notes that the provision had been read down to one year to address equality and life concerns, and that a High Court ruling on the constitutional validity of a Central enactment operates throughout India subject to the Act's applicability. On the facts, the spouses had lived separately for more than one year and filed the petition jointly, so the Family Court's refusal to entertain the petition could not stand and the marriage was dissolved by mutual consent.

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Issues: Whether the requirement in Section 10A(1) of the Divorce Act, 1869 that spouses must have lived separately for two years before presenting a petition for divorce by mutual consent is unconstitutional and liable to be read down, and whether the petitioners were entitled to dissolution of marriage on the facts of the case.

Analysis: The petitioners challenged the Family Court's refusal to entertain their joint petition for divorce by mutual consent on the ground that the statutory separation period of two years had not expired. The Court noted the earlier view that such a requirement, when compared with analogous matrimonial statutes, offended the guarantees of equality and life, and that the provision had been read down to one year. The Court further relied on the principle that a High Court ruling on the constitutional validity of a Central enactment operates throughout India subject to the applicability of the Act. Since the parties had been living separately for more than one year and the petition was jointly filed, the impugned order could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The two-year separation requirement under Section 10A(1) was not applied as an absolute bar, and the petitioners were held entitled to dissolution of marriage by mutual consent.

Final Conclusion: The Family Court's refusal was set aside and the marriage was dissolved by decree of divorce by mutual consent.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory condition in a matrimonial provision may be read down to preserve its constitutionality, and a High Court's decision on the constitutional validity of a Central Act has operative effect throughout India subject to the Act's applicability.

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