Backtracking on mutual divorce plan amounts to harassment: High court

HC HELD THAT ONCE TWO LITIGATING PARTIES ARRIVE AT A COMPROMISE, NEITHER CAN BACKTRACK ON THE CONSENT TERMS

MUMBAI: If an estranged spouse, after agreeing for a divorce through mutual consent, changes his or her mind and subsequently backtracks on the consent terms then such conduct amounts to harassment of the other spouse and is an abuse of the process of law, the Bombay high court has held.

In a recent judgment, justice Shalini Phansalkar-joshi held that once two litigating parties arrive at a compromise then either of them cannot unilaterally backtrack on the consent terms if the other party has already acted upon the consent terms either wholly or in part hearing an appeal filed by Arun Patil, a railways officer, against a sessions court judgment. According to Patil’s plea, after litigating over their divorce petition for several years, he and his estranged wife Sandhya came upon an agreement or compromise whereby, Sandhya agreed to withdraw all criminal cases that she had filed against Patil and his fam Violence and Dowry Prohibition Acts and in turn, Patil agreed to amend his plea seeking divorce on the grounds of cruelty. And both agreed to file for divorce on mutual consent to make the divorce pro cedure quicker. Patil also agreed to give Sandhya Rs 5 lakh as a permanent maintenance amount

However, once the divorce was granted, and after Patil gave her the money, Sandhya refused to withdraw the criminal cases filed against Patil and his family members. Patil’s plea in the ses sions court was rejected and he thus, approached the HC. Justice Phansalkar-joshi held that neither party must be allowed to withdraw the consent terms given while fil ing for divorce through mutual