When divorce can not be granted on the ground of schizophrenia

Supreme Court: Upbraiding the spouses for seeking divorce under Section 13 (1)(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 on ground of other spouse’s mental illness like schizophrenia, the division bench of Hon’ble G.S. Singhvi and V. Gopala Gowda, JJ. held that only the incurable mental illness can be a ground for dissolution of marriage between parties. Citing the Vedic scriptures, the Court said that Marriage is highly revered in India and we are a Nation that prides itself on the strong foundation of our marriages and the curable illness of the spouse should not be made a ground for divorce. It was held that schizophrenia is a treatable illness which can be put at par with diseases like hypertension and diabetes.

In the present case, the wife was suffering from illness of schizophrenic type and did not show any symptoms of psychotic illness and was also found to be responding well to the medication. Keeping this fact in view and also that a child was born out of the union, the Court granted decree under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act for restitution of conjugal rights. [Kollam Chandra Sekhar v. Kollam Padma Latha, Civil Appeal No.8264 of 2013, decided on September 17, 2013]

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