DR. BENOY IDICULA BABU REP BY P.O.A HOLDER P. I BABU & ORS. ETC.versusDR. NISHA SAIRA BENOY & ANR. ETC.

388                SUPREME[2018]
                           COURT 14REPORTS
                                   S.C.R. 388             [2018] 14 S.C.R.


A              DR. BENOY IDICULA BABU REP BY P.O.A
                   HOLDER P. I BABU & ORS. ETC.
                                      v.
                DR. NISHA SAIRA BENOY & ANR. ETC.
                  (Civil Appeal Nos. 11262-11264 of 2018)
B
                           NOVEMBER 22, 2018
             [KURIAN JOSEPH AND HEMANT GUPTA, JJ.]
             Divorce Act, 1869 – s.10-A – Matrimonial Dispute – Court
      assisted mediation and conciliation – Held: Having regard to the
      entire background of the long drawn litigation between the parties
C
      and the fact that they have taken a conscious decision to part, there
      is no need for them to go through the regular process – Marriage
      between the appellant and the respondent is dissolved by decree of
      divorce by mutual consent – Deed of settlement to form part of the
      decree – Application u/s.10-A, 1869 Act is allowed – Since the parties
D     have settled the dispute, the Passport Officer concerned is directed
      to process the application duly filed by the respondent-mother for
      the minor child and Rs.1,00,000/- deposited with the Regional
      Passport Officer, Thiruvananthapuram to be refunded to the
      respondent – Various cases pending between the parties are disposed
      of/dismissed/quashed.
E
            Disposing of the matters, the Court
             HELD: 1.1 The deed of settlement shall form part of the
      decree. Having regard to the entire background of the long drawn
      litigation between the parties and having regard to the fact that
F     they have taken a conscious decision to part, there is no need for
      the parties to go through the regular process. Therefore, their
      application under Section 10-A of the Divorce Act, 1869 is allowed
      and their marriage is dissolved by a decree of divorce by mutual
      consent. The amount of Rs.1.25 crore paid by the husband to the
      wife by way of permanent alimony shall not be treated as income
G     for the purpose of income tax. [Paras 6, 7][390-C-E]
             1.2 Since the parties have settled the dispute, the Passport
      Officer concerned is directed to process the application duly filed
      by the respondent-mother for the minor child. The application
      shall not be rejected on the ground of any pending litigation, since
H
                                       388
   DR. BENOY IDICULA BABU REP BY P.O.A HOLDER P. I                          389
           BABU v. DR. NISHA SAIRA BENOY

the parties have settled all the disputes. Since the parties have           A
settled the dispute, the amount of Rs.1,00,000/- deposited with
the Regional Passport Officer Thiruvananthapuram shall be
refunded to the respondent. [Paras 8, 9][390-E-F]
      1.3 In view of the settlement by the parties, the cases filed
before the High Court of Kerala and the case pending before the             B
Family Court, Tiruvalla are disposed of. The cases pending before
the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Thiruvalla and Judicial First
Class Magistrate, Ranni are disposed of. The cases pending
before the High Court of Kerala in Crl.M.C.No.7353/2015and
Crl.M.C.No.3194/2017 are dismissed. The cases pending before
the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-XI, Thiruvananthapuram            C
and Judicial First Class Magistrate, Thiruvalla, Kerala are
quashed. All proceedings initiated under the Indian Passport Act
shall be dropped. [Paras 11-14][391-A-C]
       CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal Nos. 11262-
11264 of 2018.                                                              D
       From the Judgment and Order dated 29.03.2017 of the High Court
of Kerala at Ernakulam in Mat. Appeal Nos. 737, 956 and 955 of 2015.
                                   With
       Civil Appeal Nos. 11265-11266 of 2018.
                                                                            E
       Vipin Nair, P. B. Suresh, Karthik Jayashankar, Anshumaan
Bahadur, Advs. for the Appellants.
       Manoj V. George, Ms. Shilpa Liza George, B. D. Das, Vignesh
Ram K. M., Ms. Ashita Arora, Amit Kumar, Kamlendra Mishra, Sanand
Ramakrishnan, Advs. for the Respondents.
                                                                            F
       The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
       KURIAN, J. 1. Leave granted.
       2. This is a case where this court successfully experimented a
new method of settlement, namely, court assisted mediation and
conciliation.
                                                                            G
       3. The appellant approached this Court aggrieved by the order
dated 29.3.2017 of the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam in Matrimonial
Appeal Nos.737, 955 and 956 of 2015.
       4. Finding that there is an element of settlement, we initially
directed the parties for mediation. The Initial attempt was unsuccessful.
Thereafter, this Court directed the parties to appear before this Court.    H
390                 SUPREME COURT REPORTS                       [2018] 14 S.C.R.


A     We had long interaction with them. Finally, on the monetary aspect, a
      settlement has been arrived at, on the terms suggested by the Court.
      Still there were some minor disputes.
              5. We sought the assistance of Mr.V.Shekhar, learned senior
      counsel and we are happy to note that the learned senior counsel was
B     able to successfully mediate on the remaining disputes and the parties
      have reached a settlement.
              6. The deed of settlement has been produced along with the I.A.
      The same is taken on record. The deed of settlement shall form part of
      the decree. In terms of the settlement, the parties have filed an application
      under Section 10-A of the Divorce Act of 1869. Having regard to the
C     entire background of the long drawn litigation between the parties and
      having regard to the fact that they have taken a conscious decision to
      part, we are of the view that there is no need for the parties to go
      through the regular process. Therefore, their application under Section
      10-A of the Divorce Act is allowed and the marriage between Dr.Benoy
D     Idicula Babu and Dr. Nisha Saira Benoy is dissolved by a decree of
      divorce by mutual consent.
              7. We make it clear that the amount of Rs.1.25 crore paid by the
      husband to the wife by way of permanent alimony shall not be treated
      as income for the purpose of income tax.
E             8. Since the parties have settled the dispute, we direct the Passport
      Officer concerned to process the application duly filed by the mother
      Dr.Nisha Saira Benoy for the minor child Danil Chacko Benoy. The
      application shall not be rejected on the ground of any pending litigation,
      since the parties have settled all the disputes.
              9. Since the parties have settled the dispute, the amount of
F
      Rs.1,00,000(one Lakh) deposited with the Regional Passport Officer
      Thiruvananthapuram shall be refunded to the mother-Nisha Saira Benoy.
              10. In view of the settlement by the parties as above, the cases
      filed before the High Court of Kerala i.e. W.P(C) No.28239/ 2009,
      W.P.(C)No.24558/ 2013, W.P(C)No.9832/ 2014, W.P.(C) No.19111/2010
G     and W.P.(C)No.21292/2009, W.P.(C)No.31159/2011 and the case pending
      before the Family Court, Tiruvalla in O.P.No.630/2010 and O.P.No.631/
      2010 are disposed of. The cases pending before the Judicial First Class
      Magistrate, Thiruvalla, in CC No.757/2010 and Judicial first Class
      Magistrate, Ranni, in FIR NO.392/2013 and Crl.M.P.No.7499/2013 are
H     disposed of.
   DR. BENOY IDICULA BABU REP BY P.O.A HOLDER P.I                             391
      BABU v. DR. NISHA SAIRA BENOY [KURIAN, J.]

      11. The cases pending before the High Court of Kerala in                A
Crl.M.C.No.7353/2015 and Crl.M.C.No.3194/2017 are dismissed.
      12. The cases pending before the Judicial first class Magistrate
Court-XI, Thiruvananthapuram in FIR No.584/2010 and Judicial First
Class Magistrate, Thiruvalla, Kerala in CC No.709/2012 in FIR No.403/
2009 are quashed.                                                             B
      13. All proceedings initiated under the Indian Passport Act shall
be dropped. We record our sincere appreciation for the efforts taken by
Mr. V.Shekhar, and the counsel on both sides who have devoted
considerable time for settlement of dispute between the parties. We also
record our appreciation for the cooperation extended by the parties.
                                                                              C
      14. Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.

Divya Pandey                                           Matters disposed of.



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