Hubby records consent through Skype, techie couple gets divorce

PUNE: A civil court here has granted divorce to a software engineer couple after recording the husband’s consent for mutual divorce from his estranged wife through video conferencing app Skype.
The 35-year-old man (name withheld), who is residing and working at Prinsegracht in The Hague, The Netherlands, had applied to the court for recording of his consent terms through Skype/WhatAapp or such means of communication as he was unable to appear in person before the court.

“We relied on a Bombay high court judgment passed on April 6 this year in support of our case. The (civil) court allowed our plea,” his lawyer, Vaibhav Jathar, told TOI.

The woman (27) is from a Maharashtrian family in Pune, while the man belongs to a Telugu family rom Andhra Pradesh.

Both are software engineers and had a love marriage in Hyderabad on August 20, 2014. After their initial stay in Hyderabad, the couple moved to Bengaluru and later to Pune, during which differences developed in their marital life. They have been living separately since April 5, 2016, and the husband later took up a job in The Hague.

Later, the couple filed a plea under section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act for a divorce by mutual consent in the Pune civil court. The man’s father had filed the plea on his behalf in his capacity as a power of attorney holder. The matter was heard by joint civil judge G V Jangde-Deshpande.

It was submitted that due to incompatibility and inability to live in peace, the petitioners separated and there was no remote possibility of reunion between the petitioners. Efforts by the parents and relatives to resolve the differences did not succeed and the couple amicably agreed to issues relating to maintenance and incidental matters while approaching the court for divorce by mutual consent.

The court accepted the consent terms furnished on behalf of either parties and also verified the claims by way of recording of the woman’s statement in person and the man’s statement through Skype before passing the decree of divorce to dissolve the marriage.