{"id":3234,"date":"2025-01-11T15:03:37","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T15:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/?p=3234"},"modified":"2025-03-12T16:06:35","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T10:36:35","slug":"vishnu-dutt-sharma-v-manju-sharma-2009case-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/family-law\/vishnu-dutt-sharma-v-manju-sharma-2009case-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Vishnu Dutt Sharma v. Manju Sharma 2009(Case Summary)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3234\" class=\"elementor elementor-3234\">\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\">Vishnu Dutt Sharma v. Manju Sharma AIR 2009 SC 2254 (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\/an-image-of-a-courtroom-with-a-large-win_KC3jhc6DRoy8rV8BZpbg_Q_u9MxOwS0Q5Gy8fHb4DT9Ww.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536 wp-image-3236\" alt=\"Vishnu Dutt Sharma v. Manju Sharma AIR 2009 SC 2254\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/an-image-of-a-courtroom-with-a-large-win_KC3jhc6DRoy8rV8BZpbg_Q_u9MxOwS0Q5Gy8fHb4DT9Ww.jpeg 1312w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/an-image-of-a-courtroom-with-a-large-win_KC3jhc6DRoy8rV8BZpbg_Q_u9MxOwS0Q5Gy8fHb4DT9Ww-300x168.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/an-image-of-a-courtroom-with-a-large-win_KC3jhc6DRoy8rV8BZpbg_Q_u9MxOwS0Q5Gy8fHb4DT9Ww-1024x574.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/an-image-of-a-courtroom-with-a-large-win_KC3jhc6DRoy8rV8BZpbg_Q_u9MxOwS0Q5Gy8fHb4DT9Ww-150x84.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/an-image-of-a-courtroom-with-a-large-win_KC3jhc6DRoy8rV8BZpbg_Q_u9MxOwS0Q5Gy8fHb4DT9Ww-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 this case, the Supreme Court of India addressed the issue of divorce on the grounds of cruelty and irretrievable breakdown of marriage. The Court considered whether irretrievable breakdown could serve as a valid legal ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, despite its absence as an explicit provision in the Act.<\/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\/vishnu-dutt-sharma-v-manju-sharma-2009case-summary\/#Facts_of_Vishnu_Dutt_Sharma_v_Manju_Sharma\" >Facts of Vishnu Dutt Sharma v Manju Sharma<\/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\/vishnu-dutt-sharma-v-manju-sharma-2009case-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\/vishnu-dutt-sharma-v-manju-sharma-2009case-summary\/#Subordinate_Court_Judgment\" >Subordinate Court Judgment\u00a0\u00a0<\/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\/vishnu-dutt-sharma-v-manju-sharma-2009case-summary\/#Judgment_of_Vishnu_Dutt_Sharma_v_Manju_Sharma\" >Judgment of Vishnu Dutt Sharma v Manju Sharma<\/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\/vishnu-dutt-sharma-v-manju-sharma-2009case-summary\/#Read_the_Judgment_below\" >Read the Judgment below.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Facts_of_Vishnu_Dutt_Sharma_v_Manju_Sharma\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Facts of Vishnu Dutt Sharma v Manju Sharma<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vishnu Dutt Sharma (the appellant) and Manju Sharma (the respondent) were married on 26th February 1993. A child was born to them in December 1993.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The appellant alleged that the respondent behaved cruelly, left the matrimonial home, and refused to return.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The respondent, in her defense, claimed that she was mistreated by the appellant and his family, including incidents of physical assault and threats.<\/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 the appellant was entitled to a divorce on the grounds of cruelty under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage could be considered as a ground for divorce, despite it not being explicitly mentioned in the Act?<\/span><\/li><\/ol><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Subordinate_Court_Judgment\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Subordinate Court Judgment\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vishnu Dutt Sharma filed for divorce, but the trial court dismissed his case because he was unable to provide proof of Manju Sharma&#8217;s alleged cruelty. The court determined that there was insufficient evidence to establish that the respondent&#8217;s actions qualified as cruelty in accordance with Hindu Marriage Act Section 13(1)(i-a).<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On appeal, the High Court upheld the trial court\u2019s decision, rejecting the appellant\u2019s plea for divorce. The High Court observed that the evidence did not support the appellant&#8217;s claim of cruelty and ruled that granting a divorce based on irretrievable breakdown of marriage was not possible under the current legal framework, as this ground was not recognized in the Hindu Marriage Act.<\/span><\/p><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Judgment_of_Vishnu_Dutt_Sharma_v_Manju_Sharma\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Judgment of Vishnu Dutt Sharma v Manju Sharma<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court primarily examined the provisions of Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, particularly the grounds for divorce related to cruelty and whether irretrievable breakdown could be recognized as a valid ground for granting divorce.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court reaffirmed that irretrievable breakdown is not a legally recognized ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act. The Court emphasized that it cannot add or amend legal provisions, which is the role of the legislature.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, stating that the appellant had failed to establish cruelty by the respondent and that irretrievable breakdown was not a valid ground for divorce. The Court held that such an amendment to the Act must come from Parliament, not through judicial intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a significant advancement, the Supreme Court of India, in the case of Mansi Khatri v. Gaurav Khatri (2023), granted a divorce on the basis of irretrievable breakdown of marriage by exercising its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution. The Court observed that the marriage had irretrievably broken down and, to render complete justice, dissolved the marriage while also settling matters of permanent alimony and quashing pending legal proceedings between the parties.<\/span><\/p><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Read_the_Judgment_below\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><strong>Read the Judgment below.<\/strong><\/span><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\/Vishnu-Dutt-Sharma-v.-Manju-Sharma-AIR-2009-SC-2254-1.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 this case, the Supreme Court of India addressed the issue of divorce on the grounds of cruelty and irretrievable breakdown of marriage. The Court considered whether irretrievable breakdown could serve as a valid legal ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, despite its absence as an explicit provision in the Act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3236,"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],"class_list":["post-3234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-law","tag-divorce","tag-hindu-marriage-act-1955"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3234","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=3234"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4302,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3234\/revisions\/4302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}