New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that a Hindu married couple may not need to wait six months for a separation order in the case of mutual consent and the marriage can be legally terminated in just a week.

The court ruled that the stipulation under the Hindu Marriage Act for a six-month wait could be done away with if all efforts for mediation and conciliation intended to reunite the parties had failed. The waiving off can be considered if the parties had already lived separately for at least a year. In such situations, the court could take a view that delay in proceedings will only prolong subsequent resettlement.

"The object of the provision is to enable the parties to dissolve a marriage by consent if the marriage has irretrievably broken down and to enable them to rehabilitate them as per available options. The amendment was inspired by the thought that forcible perpetuation of status of matrimony between unwilling partners did not serve any purpose. The object of the cooling off period was to safeguard against a hurried decision if there was otherwise possibility of differences being reconciled," it said.

Explaining the provision, a bench of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit said the object of the cooling off period is to safeguard against a hurried decision taken by a couple to get separated and to allow them to explore ways to settle their disputes but this could not be made mandatory.

Section 13B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act says that if both parties do not change their pleas for divorce in a time period not less that six months and not later than 18 months, then the court shall pass a decree declaring the marriage to be dissolved. The period of six to 18 months provided in section 13B is an interregnum to give time and opportunity for the couple to reflect on their move.