Settling a deeply contested marital dispute, the Supreme Court Tuesday granted divorce to a couple and directed that the wife, who is an IPS officer, to issue an “an unconditional apology to the husband and his family” and have it published it newspapers and on social media as part of the settlement.
The couple, an IPS officer and Delhi-based businessman, had married in 2015 and separated in 2018. The woman became an IPS officer in 2022, three years after she separated from her husband and moved to her hometown in Uttar Pradesh. According to the terms of the court-mandated settlement, the woman did not seek alimony or maintenance and instead offered to transfer property owned by her parents to her estranged husband. These properties — three pieces of land in Aligarh — will be transferred by the officer’s mother who owns them through a gift deed.
“As a result of the cases filed by the wife, the husband remained in jail for a period of 109 days and his father for 103 days and the entire family suffered physical and mental trauma and harassment. What they have suffered cannot be resituated or compensated in any manner,” the top court said, directing the IPS officer, and her parents to tender an unconditional apology to the husband and his family members which shall be published in the national edition of the renowned one English and one Hindi newspaper. “Such apology shall also be published and circulated on all social media platforms,” the SC said in its order.
The apex court also granted primary custody of the child to the mother and visitation rights to the father. The SC further granted police protection to the husband and his family, cautioning the IPS officer to “never use her position and power as an IPS officer or any other position that she may hold in future,” to cause “any bodily or mental injury to the husband and his family, in any manner whatsoever.”
A bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih also added that “the apology is made to bring about amicable closure to the protracted legal battle and associated emotional and mental stress. It is without prejudice to/for either party. It shall not ever be used against (her),” the apex court said.
Under Article 142 of the Constitution, which gives the SC power to do complete justice, the court directly grants divorce for irretrievable breakdown of marriage.
The top court was hearing two transfer petitions filed by the couple. While the wife had filed cases in UP, the husband had filed cases in Delhi’s Rohini court. Goel had sought divorce and did not seek either alimony or maintenance. The husband, in turn, had sought custody of their eight-year-old daughter. The marital dispute soon turned into a litany of cases against each other. While the wife alleged domestic violence, rape, and made income tax complaints, the husband alleged defamation and even challenged the IPS candidature of the wife.
