Marriage and complete independence 'impossible', says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday, 21 August, observed that it is “impossible” for a husband or wife to claim complete independence from their spouse while still in a continuing marriage.

“If anyone wants to be fully independent, they should not enter matrimony,” a bench of justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan said while hearing a dispute between an estranged couple with two young children.

“Marriage means the coming together of two souls. How can you say you want to be independent while still married?” the bench remarked, urging the couple to reconcile in the interest of their children.

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The wife, appearing virtually from Hyderabad, said her husband—working in Singapore—was unwilling to resolve the dispute and was only pursuing custody and visitation rights. She cited his past conduct as the reason she could not return to Singapore and said she had received no maintenance, forcing her to seek a livelihood as a single mother.

The court, however, reminded her that marriage brings emotional dependence, if not financial. “You can’t say you don’t want to depend on anyone. Then why did you get married? I may be old-fashioned, but no wife can say that,” justice Nagarathna remarked.

Directing the husband to deposit ₹5 lakh towards maintenance, the bench also arranged interim custody: he will celebrate his younger son’s birthday on 23 August and spend weekends in August with the children.

The matter will be heard again on 16 September, with the husband expressing readiness to keep divorce proceedings on hold to explore reconciliation.

With PTI inputs