Corona pandemic ruined marriages, says Madras High Court

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court observed that the COVID-19 pandemic had not only claimed lives but also damaged the institution of marriage, as it called for an out-of-the-box approach to resolve matrimonial disputes between couples who married between 2020 and 2022.

During the hearing of a civil revision petition, Justice N Anand Venkatesh noted that more than 95% of the matrimonial disputes before the court involved couples who married during the pandemic period and had lived together for only six to nine months.

The court noted that almost all matrimonial disputes that came before it in the last three months involved marriages solemnised between 2019 and 2022. In more than 95% of the cases, the couples had lived together for only six to nine months, while some shared the same roof for just three months.

The years spanning 2020 to 2022 were peak pandemic years in India, with the first and second waves forcing the country into an unprecedented lockdown.

Observing that the pandemic damaged the institution of marriage, the court said living together in the same house exposed the best and worst aspects of couples’ characters, while concerns about the future and the extraordinary circumstances directly affected their marital relationship.

The court said matrimonial disputes arising during the 2020-2022 period should be treated as a separate category and require out-of-the-box thinking for resolution and expressed its intention to explore a different approach to resolving such disputes.

The Madras High Court directed all principal district judges across Tamil Nadu to collect data from Family Courts and other courts dealing with matrimonial disputes involving marriages solemnised between 2020 and 2022 and submit it before the next hearing on November 27.

The court said it would seek the assistance of family court lawyers to explore the alternatives to amicably resolve these cases.

The court disposed of the civil revision petition after finding the Rs 10,000 maintenance fixed by the Alandur sub court in March to be reasonable and directing the petitioner husband to pay the arrears of the maintenance within four weeks.