The Supreme Court has granted divorce to an army officer and his dentist wife, exercising its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution that gives it untrammelled jurisdiction to pass any order, judgment or decree to render complete justice to parties to a dispute.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order while rejecting the plea of the wife, Priyanshi Ghai, that she be allowed to pursue the divorce on grounds of “adultery” against her estranged husband, Salil Dhawan, before a family court in Uttar Pradesh.

Owing to marital discord, the wife moved out of the matrimonial home. She attributed the breakdown of the marriage to the husband’s alleged adultery. The marriage had been solemnised on April 19, 2017.

“We have given our thoughtful consideration to the matter. We are cognisant of the fact that the respondent-wife is not agreeable to the grant of divorce by this court and intends to pursue a contested petition on the ground of adultery. Nonetheless, what is evident from the record and from our interaction with the parties is that the marriage between the parties has irretrievably broken down and there is no possibility of reconciliation whatsoever.

“The parties have been living separately for over eight years. The record shows long-standing acrimony between the parties and a multiplicity of civil and criminal proceedings initiated by both sides. The ties of matrimony, in every meaningful sense, have long since been severed. In such circumstances, to compel the parties to remain bound in a marriage that exists only on paper would serve no legitimate purpose. We are, therefore, satisfied that this is an appropriate case for the exercise of jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution of India,” Justice Nath observed.

The court awarded ₹50 lakh alimony to the wife. “This amount shall constitute a one-time, full and final settlement of all claims, past and future, arising from this marriage,” the court said.