In a significant ruling, the supreme court dissolved a marriage that had been defunct for nearly 15 years, exercising its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to bring closure to a prolonged legal battle. The case involved A. Ranjithkumar and E. Kavitha, who married in 2009 and later moved to the United States, where their son was born in 2010. In 2012, Ranjithkumar filed for divorce citing cruelty and adultery, and while the Family court granted him divorce in 2016, the high court set it aside in 2018. Meanwhile, the husband had already remarried in 2017, leaving the marital dispute unresolved for years.
Recognising that the couple had been living apart since 2012 with no possibility of reunion, the supreme court concluded that the marriage had “irretrievably broken down” and continuing it would serve no purpose. The court emphasised that keeping parties tied to a legally dead marriage only created unnecessary complications. To balance equities, the bench directed Ranjithkumar to provide financial security to his estranged wife and son, ordering him to pay a one-time settlement of ₹1.25 crores in five instalments spread between september 2025 and september 2026.
The judgment not only highlights the Court’s willingness to invoke Article 142 in cases of dead marriages but also reiterates the need to ensure fairness by protecting the financial rights of the wife and child. Importantly, the court warned that failure to comply with the payment schedule would lead to recall of the order, and any amount already paid would be forfeited. By closing this chapter, the apex court has once again underscored that matrimonial disputes lingering for decades need pragmatic solutions rather than endless litigation, thereby delivering what it called “complete justice.”
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