WhatsApp Divorce?

Advocate Vandana Shah welcomes technology in divorce, a new trend in India which will not only destigmatize divorce, but also make it non-cumbersome.

With technology taking over our lives, it was inevitable that even our conservative judicial system would be impacted. Recently, a warring couple in Nagpur were divorced using WhatsApp.

The facts of the case are extremely interesting. The couple were married in Secunderabad in 2013. Both were qualified engineers and got jobs in the US. However, they weren’t compatible as husband and wife, and their differences led to constant strife in the marriage. Since around 2017, the disputes between the husband and wife increased, leading them to live separately in the US. In the meantime, the husband returned to India and filed his divorce application in the Family Court of Nagpur.

When a divorce petition is filed, as per the law, counselling is mandatory. However, since the wife was in America, no counselling took place. At that stage, it seemed that the situation had reached a logjam since the presence of the wife would be required for completing the legal formalities of a divorce.