Warring couples can’t be allowed to settle their scores by treating courts as battlefield: Supreme Court

Warring couples cannot be allowed to settle scores by treating the courts as their own battlegrounds and suffocating the system, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday (January 20, 2026) and said they should explore mediation for early resolution as claims and counter-claims in the court aggravate the dispute.

The bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan made the observations while dissolving the marriage of the couple, who stayed together for only 65 days and were separated for over a decade.

The Supreme Court used its authority to terminate the marriage in accordance with Article 142 of the Constitution, stating that there was an irreparable termination of the marriage.

Bench said, “Conflicting couples cannot be allowed to settle scores by treating the courts as a battlefield and suffocating the system. If harmony cannot be achieved, there are methods for early resolution of disputes. The mediation process is a method that can be explored before the lawsuit, even after the trial has started. When the parties start to file lawsuits against each other, especially on the criminal side, the possibility of their reunion is remote, but should not be ignored.”

The Supreme Court said that when there are differences of opinion between the parties to a marriage dispute, preparations begin on what lesson to teach the other party.

“In the age of artificial intelligence, evidence is being collected, and in some cases even created. False allegations are very common. Since any marital dispute has a direct impact on the fabric of society, it is the duty of all concerned to make a serious effort to resolve it as soon as possible, before the parties take a strong and rigid stance. There are mediation centers in all districts where pre-litigation mediation is also possible. In fact, this issue is being investigated in many cases and the success rate is also encouraging. In most cases, the parties also started living together after resolving the disputes.” Bench said.

Admitting that the problem mostly arises after the birth of a child or children, the high court said that the child has become an issue of contention between the warring parties many times.

“Above all, serious efforts must be made by the parties and the guidance of the lawyers when consulted in the process is to persuade them to engage in pre-litigation mediation. Rather, their consultation may be necessary in some cases,” the panel added.

“Even if a suit is filed in court on a trivial matter like alimony under Section 144 of the BNSS, 2023 or Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, the first effort the court should make would be to explore mediation rather than calling the parties to respond as claims and counter-claims sometimes aggravate the dispute,” the Bench said.

The court said that even when a complaint is requested to the police due to a simple marital dispute, the first and most important effort should be to reach a compromise through mediation centers in the courts, if possible, instead of calling the parties to the police station.

The apex court said that in changing times, matrimonial cases have increased in large numbers and it is the duty of all concerned, including family members of the parties, to make serious efforts to resolve the disputes before any civil or criminal proceedings are initiated.