DR. BENOY IDICULA BABU REP BY P.O.A HOLDER P. I BABU & ORS. ETC. versus DR. NISHA SAIRA BENOY & ANR. ETC. on 22 November 2018

388 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2018] 14 S.C.R.[2018] 14 S.C.R. 388

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DR. BENOY IDICULA BABU REP BY P.O.AHOLDER P. I BABU & ORS. ETC.

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DR. NISHA SAIRA BENOY & ANR. ETC.

(Civil Appeal Nos. 11262-11264 of 2018)

BNOVEMBER 22, 2018

[KURIAN JOSEPH AND HEMANT GUPTA, JJ.]

Divorce Act, 1869 – s.10-A – Matrimonial Dispute – Courtassisted mediation and conciliation – Held: Having regard to theentire background of the long drawn litigation between the partiesCand the fact that they have taken a conscious decision to part, thereis no need for them to go through the regular process – Marriagebetween the appellant and the respondent is dissolved by decree ofdivorce by mutual consent – Deed of settlement to form part of thedecree – Application u/s.10-A, 1869 Act is allowed – Since the partiesDhave settled the dispute, the Passport Officer concerned is directedto process the application duly filed by the respondent-mother forthe minor child and Rs.1,00,000/- deposited with the RegionalPassport Officer, Thiruvananthapuram to be refunded to therespondent – Various cases pending between the parties are disposedof/dismissed/quashed.E

Disposing of the matters, the Court

HELD: 1.1 The deed of settlement shall form part of thedecree. Having regard to the entire background of the long drawnlitigation between the parties and having regard to the fact thatFthey have taken a conscious decision to part, there is no need forthe parties to go through the regular process. Therefore, theirapplication under Section 10-A of the Divorce Act, 1869 is allowedand their marriage is dissolved by a decree of divorce by mutualconsent. The amount of Rs.1.25 crore paid by the husband to thewife by way of permanent alimony shall not be treated as incomeGfor the purpose of income tax. [Paras 6, 7][390-C-E]

1.2 Since the parties have settled the dispute, the PassportOfficer concerned is directed to process the application duly filedby the respondent-mother for the minor child. The applicationshall not be rejected on the ground of any pending litigation, sinceH

the parties have settled all the disputes. Since the parties havesettled the dispute, the amount of Rs.1,00,000/- deposited withthe Regional Passport Officer Thiruvananthapuram shall berefunded to the respondent. [Paras 8, 9][390-E-F]

1.3 In view of the settlement by the parties, the cases filedbefore the High Court of Kerala and the case pending before theFamily Court, Tiruvalla are disposed of. The cases pending beforethe Judicial First Class Magistrate, Thiruvalla and Judicial FirstClass Magistrate, Ranni are disposed of. The cases pendingbefore the High Court of Kerala in Crl.M.C.No.7353/2015andCrl.M.C.No.3194/2017 are dismissed. The cases pending beforethe Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-XI, Thiruvananthapuramand Judicial First Class Magistrate, Thiruvalla, Kerala arequashed. All proceedings initiated under the Indian Passport Actshall be dropped. [Paras 11-14][391-A-C]

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal Nos. 11262-11264 of 2018.

From the Judgment and Order dated 29.03.2017 of the High Courtof Kerala at Ernakulam in Mat. Appeal Nos. 737, 956 and 955 of 2015.

With

Civil Appeal Nos. 11265-11266 of 2018.

Vipin Nair, P. B. Suresh, Karthik Jayashankar, AnshumaanBahadur, Advs. for the Appellants.

Manoj V. George, Ms. Shilpa Liza George, B. D. Das, VigneshRam K. M., Ms. Ashita Arora, Amit Kumar, Kamlendra Mishra, SanandRamakrishnan, Advs. for the Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KURIAN, J. 1. Leave granted.

2. This is a case where this court successfully experimented anew method of settlement, namely, court assisted mediation andconciliation.

3. The appellant approached this Court aggrieved by the orderdated 29.3.2017 of the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam in MatrimonialAppeal Nos.737, 955 and 956 of 2015.

4. Finding that there is an element of settlement, we initiallydirected the parties for mediation. The Initial attempt was unsuccessful.Thereafter, this Court directed the parties to appear before this Court.

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390 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2018] 14 S.C.R.

AWe had long interaction with them. Finally, on the monetary aspect, asettlement has been arrived at, on the terms suggested by the Court.Still there were some minor disputes.

5. We sought the assistance of Mr.V.Shekhar, learned seniorcounsel and we are happy to note that the learned senior counsel wasBable to successfully mediate on the remaining disputes and the partieshave reached a settlement.

6. The deed of settlement has been produced along with the I.A.The same is taken on record. The deed of settlement shall form part ofthe decree. In terms of the settlement, the parties have filed an applicationunder Section 10-A of the Divorce Act of 1869. Having regard to theCentire background of the long drawn litigation between the parties andhaving regard to the fact that they have taken a conscious decision topart, we are of the view that there is no need for the parties to gothrough the regular process. Therefore, their application under Section10-A of the Divorce Act is allowed and the marriage between Dr.BenoyDIdicula Babu and Dr. Nisha Saira Benoy is dissolved by a decree ofdivorce by mutual consent.

7. We make it clear that the amount of Rs.1.25 crore paid by thehusband to the wife by way of permanent alimony shall not be treatedas income for the purpose of income tax.

8. Since the parties have settled the dispute, we direct the PassportOfficer concerned to process the application duly filed by the motherDr.Nisha Saira Benoy for the minor child Danil Chacko Benoy. Theapplication shall not be rejected on the ground of any pending litigation,since the parties have settled all the disputes.

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9. Since the parties have settled the dispute, the amount ofFRs.1,00,000(one Lakh) deposited with the Regional Passport OfficerThiruvananthapuram shall be refunded to the mother-Nisha Saira Benoy.

10. In view of the settlement by the parties as above, the casesfiled before the High Court of Kerala i.e. W.P(C) No.28239/ 2009,W.P.(C)No.24558/ 2013, W.P(C)No.9832/ 2014, W.P.(C) No.19111/2010Gand W.P.(C)No.21292/2009, W.P.(C)No.31159/2011 and the case pendingbefore the Family Court, Tiruvalla in O.P.No.630/2010 and O.P.No.631/2010 are disposed of. The cases pending before the Judicial First ClassMagistrate, Thiruvalla, in CC No.757/2010 and Judicial first ClassMagistrate, Ranni, in FIR NO.392/2013 and Crl.M.P.No.7499/2013 areHdisposed of.

11. The cases pending before the High Court of Kerala inCrl.M.C.No.7353/2015 and Crl.M.C.No.3194/2017 are dismissed.

12. The cases pending before the Judicial first class MagistrateCourt-XI, Thiruvananthapuram in FIR No.584/2010 and Judicial FirstClass Magistrate, Thiruvalla, Kerala in CC No.709/2012 in FIR No.403/2009 are quashed.

13. All proceedings initiated under the Indian Passport Act shallbe dropped. We record our sincere appreciation for the efforts taken byMr. V.Shekhar, and the counsel on both sides who have devotedconsiderable time for settlement of dispute between the parties. We alsorecord our appreciation for the cooperation extended by the parties.

14. Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.

Divya Pandey

Matters disposed of.

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