The Supreme Court's order to expedite divorce proceedings cannot be used to deny the wife her right to consent.

The Supreme Court's order to expedite divorce proceedings cannot be used to deny the wife her right to consent.

Allahabad High Court in Alka Singh Chauhan vs. Shakti Singh ruled that the Supreme Court's order to hurried divorce proceedings should not restrict a wife's ability to challenge her divorce. Since their wedding in 2015 the couple initiated divorce proceedings in 2016 because the man sought dissolution based on his wife's purported adultery. The wife obtained court permission to move the case from Delhi to Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh under Supreme Court directives to structure rapid processing and restrict schedule extensions. The wife's request for maintenance along with litigation costs under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act resulted in a court-ordered ₹10,000 reward for expenses but the court refused her maintenance application. The issues were framed on March 27, 2019 while the husband submitted his affidavit to the wife but her right to cross-examine him was taken away the subsequent day. The court granted the divorce petition in favor of the husband on May 2, 2019 before the Supreme Court deadline expired. The wife pursued higher appeal basing her arguments on the allegation that the case proceedings had prevented her from defending against the contest. The High Court condemned the Family Court's hasty handling of the case before the wife's right to cross-examination could be properly applied. The court made it clear that speeding up judicial processes should never affect judicial fairness. The High Court annulled the divorce order to ensure the wife a proper right to defend herself and to access weekly hearings requiring daily deposits starting at ₹1000 during adjournments.

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