{"id":2958,"date":"2025-01-03T12:35:55","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T12:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/?p=2958"},"modified":"2025-03-12T16:18:34","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T10:48:34","slug":"hitesh-bhatnagar-v-deepa-bhatnagar-2011case-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/hitesh-bhatnagar-v-deepa-bhatnagar-2011case-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Hitesh Bhatnagar v Deepa Bhatnagar 2011(Case Summary)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2958\" class=\"elementor elementor-2958\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-917020f elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no\" data-id=\"917020f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5aa9190\" data-id=\"5aa9190\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-0360c7f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no\" data-id=\"0360c7f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-f71d46a\" data-id=\"f71d46a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d818b36 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"d818b36\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Hitesh Bhatnagar v Deepa Bhatnagar AIR2011 SC637 (Case Summary)<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e246dd3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"e246dd3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1312\" height=\"736\" src=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-background-of-the-indian-supreme-court_M_CY6MgvSOuikIecuwalSw_Ej7_VfwjRwWRDEQFKpfS7Q.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536 wp-image-2961\" alt=\"Hitesh Bhatnagar v Deepa Bhatnagar AIR2011 SC637\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-background-of-the-indian-supreme-court_M_CY6MgvSOuikIecuwalSw_Ej7_VfwjRwWRDEQFKpfS7Q.jpeg 1312w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-background-of-the-indian-supreme-court_M_CY6MgvSOuikIecuwalSw_Ej7_VfwjRwWRDEQFKpfS7Q-300x168.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-background-of-the-indian-supreme-court_M_CY6MgvSOuikIecuwalSw_Ej7_VfwjRwWRDEQFKpfS7Q-1024x574.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-background-of-the-indian-supreme-court_M_CY6MgvSOuikIecuwalSw_Ej7_VfwjRwWRDEQFKpfS7Q-150x84.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/a-background-of-the-indian-supreme-court_M_CY6MgvSOuikIecuwalSw_Ej7_VfwjRwWRDEQFKpfS7Q-768x431.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1312px) 100vw, 1312px\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0d9ee86 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0d9ee86\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the case of Hitesh Bhatnagar v. Deepa Bhatnagar, the Supreme Court of India dealt with the issue of withdrawal of consent in divorce by mutual consent under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. This case revolved around whether one party could unilaterally withdraw consent after having initially agreed to the divorce and how courts should interpret the process of mutual consent in such cases.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/hitesh-bhatnagar-v-deepa-bhatnagar-2011case-summary\/#Facts_of_Hitesh_Bhatnagar_v_Deepa_Bhatnagar\" >Facts of Hitesh Bhatnagar v Deepa Bhatnagar<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/hitesh-bhatnagar-v-deepa-bhatnagar-2011case-summary\/#Issues_framed\" >Issues framed<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/hitesh-bhatnagar-v-deepa-bhatnagar-2011case-summary\/#Subordinate_Court_Judgment\" >Subordinate Court Judgment<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/hitesh-bhatnagar-v-deepa-bhatnagar-2011case-summary\/#Judgment_of_Hitesh_Bhatnagar_v_Deepa_Bhatnagar\" >Judgment of Hitesh Bhatnagar v. Deepa Bhatnagar<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/hitesh-bhatnagar-v-deepa-bhatnagar-2011case-summary\/#Click_here_to_Read_the_Judgment\" >Click here to Read the Judgment<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Facts_of_Hitesh_Bhatnagar_v_Deepa_Bhatnagar\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Facts of Hitesh Bhatnagar v Deepa Bhatnagar<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hitesh Bhatnagar and Deepa Bhatnagar got married in 1994 and had a daughter a year later. Due to irreconcilable differences, they began living separately in 2000.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2001, the parties jointly filed a petition under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act for divorce by mutual consent in the District Court, Gurgaon.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before the second motion required for the final decree of divorce, Deepa Bhatnagar withdrew her consent in 2003, claiming that her initial consent was given under stress and duress. She expressed a willingness to continue the marriage for the sake of their daughter.<\/span><\/li><\/ol><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Issues_framed\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Issues framed<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether one party can withdraw consent in a petition for divorce by mutual consent under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act after the first motion but before the second motion?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether the Court can grant a decree of divorce by mutual consent if one party withdraws their consent?<\/span><\/li><\/ol><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Subordinate_Court_Judgment\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Subordinate Court Judgment<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The District Court dismissed the petition for divorce by mutual consent due to the withdrawal of consent by Deepa Bhatnagar, despite Hitesh insisting on continuing with the proceedings.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hitesh appealed to the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, but the court upheld the decision of the District Court, ruling that the consent for divorce must be mutual and can be withdrawn at any time before the final decree.<\/span><\/p><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Judgment_of_Hitesh_Bhatnagar_v_Deepa_Bhatnagar\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Judgment of Hitesh Bhatnagar v. Deepa Bhatnagar<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The case in the Supreme Court involved an interpretation of Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which provides for divorce by mutual consent.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0The Supreme Court referred to its earlier judgment in Sureshta Devi v. Om Prakash, which clarified that mutual consent must continue until the decree of divorce is passed, and either party can withdraw consent at any point before the final decree. The Court reiterated that the consent given at the time of filing the petition is not binding until both parties confirm their consent during the second motion. <\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the decisions of the lower courts. The Court held that the petition for divorce could not be granted as the mutual consent required under Section 13B was no longer present due to the withdrawal of consent by Deepa Bhatnagar. The Court further emphasized that the legal framework under Section 13B aims to ensure that both parties genuinely desire the divorce, and withdrawal of consent reflects a change in the party\u2019s willingness to end the marriage.<\/span><\/p><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Click_here_to_Read_the_Judgment\"><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/Hitesh-Bhatnagar-vDeepa-Bhatnagar-AIR2011-SC637.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><strong>Click here to Read the Judgment<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8af0c99 elementor-widget elementor-widget-pdfjs-viewer\" data-id=\"8af0c99\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"pdfjs-viewer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<iframe width=\"\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdfjs-viewer-for-elementor\/\/assets\/js\/pdfjs\/web\/viewer.html?file=https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/Hitesh-Bhatnagar-vDeepa-Bhatnagar-AIR2011-SC637.pdf\"><\/iframe>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the case of Hitesh Bhatnagar v. Deepa Bhatnagar, the Supreme Court of India dealt with the issue of withdrawal of consent in divorce by mutual consent under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. This case revolved around whether one party could unilaterally withdraw<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[72,67,12],"class_list":["post-2958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-law","tag-divorce","tag-hindu-marriage-act-1955","tag-supreme-court"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2958"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4380,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2958\/revisions\/4380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}