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No higher court has the authority to order a lower court to grant a decree in favour of any party: Uttarakhand High Court

No higher court has the authority to order a lower court to grant a decree in favour of any party is upheld by the Uttarakhand High Court in the case of Rajeev Mandrawal v. Renu Mandrawal through Justice Lok Pal Singh.

FACTS OF THE CASE

In the instant case, a writ petition asking for mandamus to order the Principal Judge of Family Court to decide the petitioner’s case in accordance with Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and issue a divorce judgement based on mutual consent was filed.

The filing of the joint petition for divorce by mutual consent in the Family Court was done by the petitioner husband and the respondent wife. The petitioner argued that both parties showed up for the initial hearing date in family court and that a deadline for the appearance was set for six months later. However, the respondent was not present on future occasions, so he was unaware of the status of the case or if a divorce had been granted.

JUDGEMENT

When the spouse has left the topic open to interpretation, the conclusion should be made in favour of permission rather than against it. At the time of the initial motion, the husband had already consented to the divorce judgement, and only he could do so by taking a positive action; otherwise, it would be assumed that the consent that was initially provided remains. As a result, the Court granted an ex-parte divorce by mutual consent.

The court further noted that even though the petitioner had submitted an order sheet stating that the respondent had missed several dates and that adjournments had been made in the interest of justice, it was still unclear to the court whether it would rule on the initial divorce petition in any way. Based on the aforementioned observations, the court decided that the petitioner’s request for a directive is not legally viable because no higher court has the authority to order a lower court to grant a decree in favour of any party.

Accordingly, the writ petition was dismissed by the Court.

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JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY NISHTHA GARHWAL

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