10 year-old boy’s handmade Thank-You Card is part of Justice Kurian Joseph’s judgment

In a very rare gesture, the Supreme Court’s judgment, in what was otherwise a very regular case, begins with a colourful Thank-You Card embedded to it..The above is the handmade Thank-You card given by a ten-year-old boy to the Supreme Court expressing his gratitude for settling a slew of disputes between his parents before eventually dissolving their marriage. The judgment was penned by Justices Kurian Joseph and M Shantanagoudar acknowledging the “little one’s” “rich encomium”..“This is the rich encomium paid to the Court by Master Vibhu, the ten-year-old son of the appellant and respondent. The little one present in Court today is exuberantly happy and sought liberty to present a handmade card expressing his joy on the settlement of all the disputes and litigations between his mother and father”, the Court began its judgment referring to the circumstances which led to the.The parents of the child were married in 1997. On account of marital discord and temperamental differences, they began living separately since March 2011. They were involved in various litigations, civil as well as criminal. According to the Court’s judgment, twenty-three cases between the husband and wife were pending before various courts – Trial Courts, High Court, Supreme Court and one before the Consumer Forum..Several efforts were made to settle the dispute between them including intervention by Justice Lisa Gill, Judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana and Senior Counsel Meenakshi Arora who was appointed by the Supreme Court as Mediator. After all efforts failed, the Court directed the parties to be present before the Supreme Court..After tireless efforts, the parties finally reached an amicable settlement. The Court noted the same in its judgment..“It is heartening to note that finally the parties have reached an amicable settlement. The terms of settlement have been stated in detail in Interlocutory Application No. 19210 of 2018, based on which the parties have sought for divorce by mutual consent.”.The Court, therefore, quashed seven cases pending between them, dismissed a further six while another seven cases were disposed of as per the terms of the settlement..The only case which survived was the Application filed by the parties under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. Noting that the parties have agreed to divorce by mutual consent, uninfluenced by extraneous factors, the Court held that it was not necessary for them to wait for a further period of six months. Consequently, the Court dissolved the marriage between the parties..“As we have settled all disputes, we do not think it necessary to relegate them for another litigation before the Family Court. The parties are present before us. Having regard to the background of the litigation and having regard to the long separation between the parties, we are convinced that the parties have taken a conscious decision, uninfluenced by any extraneous factors. Therefore, it is not necessary for them to wait for a further period of six months. Accordingly, the marriage…is dissolved by a decree of divorce by mutual consent.”.Read the judgment below.