Madras High court judge advocates premarital counselling for all

Chennai: Coming to the rescue of a 26-year-old woman, who lived with her husband only for two weeks after marriage and is living with her parents now since he suppressed the facts that he has a heart problem and was suffering from cancer before the wedding, the Madras high court declared the marriage between them as null and void. Disposing of the petition  from the woman, Justice N. Kirubakaran also suggested the central and state governments sensitise the people about the importance of premarital counseling.

“One should remember that “Institution of Marriage”, is based on mutual faith and trust where both the bride and the groom are equal partners. If pre-marital examination of the husband had been done, the diseases would have been diagnosed and the marriage would have been certainly stopped. If pre-marital examinations are done, many problems due to medical issues, failure of marriages due to fraud, non-disclosure of health problems etc., could be averted. Therefore, it is appropriate for the Central and State governments to sensitize the people about the importance of pre-marital counseling at least, if not pre-marital examination and the benefits of such counseling by medical experts by proper advertisements in media, short movies, conducting seminars in colleges etc., Will they?” said Justice Kirubakaran.

The woman (24) and her husband (27) got married on November 13, 2014. Within two weeks of their marriage, she came to know that her husband was having a hole in his heart and was also suffering from cancer.

Feeling defrauded and cheated, she filed a petition for divorce before a family court. But her husband filed a petition for restitution of conjugal rights and so she filed the present petition to transfer his plea to the family court, where her divorce petition was pending.

After going through the medical records and hearing the spouses, the judge, terming the case as a rare case, invoked Article 227 of the Constitution and section 151 of the C.P.C and said even after hearing the cry of the innocent girl, if this court mechanically passes order in the transfer petition only citing the limited prayer sought for from this court, which was custodian of fundamental rights, civil rights, it would be shirking its responsibility. It was well settled that Rules and Procedures were the handmaids of justice. Technicalities and procedures should not frustrate the course of justice. Tears from the eyes of justice seeking lady have to be necessarily wiped out by passing unconventional orders traveling beyond the prayer, procedures and provisions. She needs to be consoled, comforted and compensated speedily.

To give rebirth to her hopes to lead a normal life, the only way was to cut off the marital bond between the petitioner and her husband which this court would not endeavour to do in normal circumstances. Transferring the proceedings to the trial court to face trial for many years and then to superior courts would only cause grave injustice to the petitioner. Hence, departing from the conventional method of transferring the cases, this court has to grant decree of nullity of marriage as prayed for by the petitioner and dismiss the petition filed by the husband seeking restitution of conjugal rights, the judge added.

The judge said this case would amply demonstrate as to how a young lady suffers because of the marriage conducted without proper enquiry and verification about the groom. Therefore, it was prudent for the parents of prospective brides and grooms to make necessary enquiry and verification about the health of their prospective son-in-law/daughter-in-law, as the case may be. However, in haste and hurry, most of the marriages were conducted and invariably, the women were becoming victims violating their dignity, human rights and right to decent and meaningful life, the judge added.