S.13B(2) of Hindu Marriage Act reads, "On the motion of both the parties made not earlier than six months after the date of the presentation of the petition referrred to in sub-section (1) and not later than 18 months after the said date, if the petition is not withdrawn in the meantime, the Court shall................pass a decree of divorce..."
My understanding of the provision is:-
1. Motion cannot be moved within 6 months of filing of the petition and therefore divorce cannot be decreed within 6 months of the filing of the petition.
2. On the expiry of 6 months of filing the petition, motion can be filed by both the parties, whereupon without any further waiting period Court can forthwith inquire and satisfy itself and grant a decree of divorce.
3. Though the petition is not withdrawn, after the expiry of 18 months from the date of the presentation of petition, parties cannot move the motion, and therefore divorce cannot be decreed. Hence the petition becomes infructuous on the expiry of 18 months from the date of the presentation of the petition.
4. If the petition is withdrawn before a motion is taken out u.s 13B(2) the court cannot decree the divorce.
5. If my understanding at S.no.2 above is correct a petition cannot be withdrawn after the second motiion is taken out. Is it correct?
6. Is it therefore correct to say, that one has to intrepret the sentance, "if the petition is not withdrawn in the meantime" to mean that the petition is not withdrawn upto the time of moving the 2nd motion and the same would not cover the period or time after the moving of the 2nd motion especially when no cooling period is specified after taking out the 2nd motion.
How far am I correct in my interpretation? Query is with reference to the interpretation of the word "meantime" in the provision. Supreme Court decision interprets meantime to cover the period upto 18th months from the date of presentation of the petition. I feel it is not correct. If SC interpretation is correct then if the parties have moved the 2nd motion immediately on the expiry of 6 months, yet the court cannot or should not forthwith decree divorce but wait for 18 months from the date of presentation of the petition to satisfy itself that the parties are not in a mood to change its mind. Can someone clarify?
