New Delhi Mar 23 PTI The Delhi High Court has waived the six-month cooling off period under the law and granted divorce decree to an estranged couple by mutual consent observing that keeping them tied to a legal bond would only mean snatching away from them the opportunity to lead a fulfilling life A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Dinesh Kumar Sharma said that in this case both the man and woman are well educated and independent individuals who have mutually decided the fate of their marriage and they are at an age where they may start a new life if given a chance However keeping them tied to a legal bond would only mean snatching away from them the opportunity ever to lead a fulfilling life it said The courts observation came while setting aside a family courts order which had rejected the second motion petition moved by the parties jointly under the Hindu Marriage Act on the ground that the statutory period of six months from the date when the first motion was moved and period of 18 months from the date of separation has not expired The man and woman had got married in November 2016 and due to disputes between them they decided to part ways and were not cohabiting as husband and wife since October 2020 The parties had submitted that all efforts of reconciliation and resolution of differences by their family members and well-wishers had failed at multiple forums Realising the agony and pain of an abusive marriage the parties had reached an overall settlement and executed the settlement deed in October 2021 resolving all their pending disputes and claims and filed for mutual divorce The family court however rejected the second motion petition which the estranged couple challenged in the high court The high court set aside the family courts order and said it does not consider it appropriate to remand the matter to the family court since the parties have been separated since October 2020 and they have arrived at an overall settlement concerning all the inter se disputes and claims The counsel also informed us that other terms and conditions of the settlement have already been adhered to Even otherwise 18 months from the date of separation of the parties would expire on April 2 2022 Considering the fact that not even a month is left for that date to arrive we accordingly allow the same and pass a decree of divorce by mutual consent of the parties under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 after waiving the statutory period under Section 13B of the Act the bench said PTI SKV SA

New Delhi Mar 21 PTI The Delhi High Court granted relief to three persons who have been living in a housing society in Dwarka for nearly two decades and are seeking direction to the Registrar of Cooperative Societies to regularise their membership in Mandakini Group Housing Society saying it would not be fair to upset them at this late stage requiring them to vacate the flatsThe high court directed the three petitioners to forward to the Registrar of the Cooperative Societies through their cooperative society all the relevant documents for verification of their membership in terms of the law as were enforceable on the date when they made the applications for their membershipA bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Dinesh Kumar Sharma directed the petitioners to deposit costs Rs 1 lakh in the Prime Ministers Relief Fund and provide copies of the receipts while forwarding their applications for verification of their membership to the Registrar of the Cooperative SocietiesThe process of verification should be completed within six weeks of the relevant documents being forwarded by the cooperative societies the bench saidThe court said if it is found that each of these petitioners were otherwise qualified to become members on the date when they made their applications by reference to the provisions of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act and the Rules as they were operating on the date when such applications were made the Registrar of the Cooperative Societies shall proceed to regularise the membershipThe court noted that the petitioners represented through advocate Anuj Dhir were enrolled as members of the Mandakini Group Housing Society in Dwarka way back in 2004 and the decision to enrol them as members was taken in January 2005 which was communicated to the Registrar of the Cooperative Societies who issued a show cause notice to the society alleging non-compliance of the relevant rulesHowever apart from issuing the show cause notice the registrar did not exercise his powers to issue any direction to the society and even when its management was superseded with the appointment of an administrator in 2014 he did not take any step to oust these petitioners from membership it saidHad action been taken against the petitioners and the society aforesaid soon after receiving intimation in January 2005 and in pursuance thereof the petitioners had been removed from the society soon thereafter these petitioners would have looked for other avenues to acquire membership of either the same society or some other society or otherwise acquire other property for their residence the court said The bench said due to the registrars inaction over the years the situation has emerged that the petitioners have been waiting for regularisation of their membership while having parted with the cost of the flat and while occupying the same In our view with passage of time equities have been created in favour of the petitioners since it would be highly unfair to require them to give up their membership and the flats allotted to them after 18 years from the time they became members and paid for the flats that they acquired They possibly cannot acquire another accommodation within same budget In any event the said society issued a public notice informing the public at large the particulars of the 8 members enrolled including the three petitioners herein and inviting objections if any from the public No member of the public objected to the enrolment of the said 8 members it said The bench added that though this cannot be considered as full compliance of Rule 19 of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Rules 2007 at the same time the publication of the notice and the lack of response thereto shows that by not inviting applications in the first instance no grave prejudice has been caused to any member of the public In these circumstances in our view it would not be fair at this late stage to upset the petitioners and to require them to vacate the flats so that a fresh process for enrolment of members could be undertaken in compliance of Rule 19 of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Rules 2007 it said The court passed the order on the petition seeking direction to the authorities to regularise membership of the petitioners in the Mandakini Group Housing Society in Sector 2 Dwarka here The petition said in this society there were 7 vacancies upon resignation of 7 existing members and the society has enrolled 7 new members including the 3 petitioners However while doing so it did not make compliance of Rule 19 of the Rules and a public notice was not issued to invite applications by all interested persons It appears that the society and its office bearers picked up 7 persons interested in becoming members and enrolled them as members Thereafter the allotment of specific flats was made to the 7 members by the society by holding a private draw of lots the plea said The counsel for the Registrar of Cooperative Societies submitted that to condone the non-compliance of Rule 19 would lead to encouragement of backdoor entries and societies enrolling members privately without providing an opportunity to the public at large to become members of the Society PTI SKV SA