Make prenuptial agreements mandatory to prevent marital legal battles: Delhi court

New Delhi: A Delhi family court judge has said that prenuptial agreements should be made mandatory before entering into marriage to reduce law-induced mental cruelty.

The judge, Harish Kumar, made this observation while granting divorce on a no-fault basis to a couple who had been embroiled in legal disputes for seven years.

He stressed on the need for mandatory prenuptial agreements, which would be executed before an appointed authority after counselling the parties about the potential risks of a marriage breaking down for various reasons.

Breaches of these agreements should be reported promptly, and if not reported, the party at fault would not be heard later, he said.

The court granted divorce without determining which party was at fault for the marital breakdown. Instead, the judge inferred that both spouses desired the divorce since they had levelled allegations against each other while seeking the divorce.

The judge recognised that matrimonial cases have seen a significant increase, with many not involving actual cruelty. Yet, if one party chooses to end the marriage for any reason, they must approach the court and make allegations against the other, which often leads to counter-allegations, it said, stressing that forcing parties to continue such marriages, even if one party cannot prove the fault of the other, would constitute law-induced mental cruelty.

Regarding custody of the child, the court named both parents as legal guardians for academic, and extracurricular purposes and directed the mother to add the father's name to the daughter's school records.

The court also granted the father regular access to the child, both daily and on weekends. On the matter of maintenance, the court ordered both parents to share 50 pee cent of the daughter's reasonable expenses.