On 28 September 2026, in S v. State of Odisha (2026 INSC 1060), the Supreme Court dissolved a marriage by mutual consent under Article 142, recorded ₹35 lakh as permanent alimony, quashed 18 civil and criminal cases pending between the couple and their families across several states, and barred fresh litigation between them. For couples in Pune the practical lesson is the settlement structure, not the forum: a divorce that leaves the 498A case, the DV case and the maintenance case running has not ended anything.
Matrimonial disputes multiply. A divorce petition in Pune is followed by a 498A FIR, a Domestic Violence Act application, a maintenance case, sometimes complaints by the in-laws, sometimes cases in another state where the wife’s parents live. Each runs on its own calendar. Couples who eventually agree to separate often discover that the divorce was the easy part.
What the Supreme Court did
The couple married in Cuttack in 2016 and had lived apart since 2022. By the time the matter reached the Supreme Court, there were proceedings in Odisha, Mumbai, Noida and Delhi, including a divorce petition, Domestic Violence Act cases and a Section 498A prosecution. Mediation failed once, and the parties were sent back to the Supreme Court Mediation Centre in February 2026.
In August 2026 the wife agreed to a mutual consent divorce. The husband raised his offer from ₹15 lakh to ₹35 lakh at the Court’s suggestion. Finding that the marriage had reached a dead end, the Bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan dissolved it, quashed every listed case and any other inter-se proceeding, and directed the decree to be drawn up. The balance alimony was handed over by demand draft in court.
What a global settlement covers
A well-drafted settlement is a single document that disposes of every dispute, not just the marriage. In Pune it typically includes:
| Head | What to settle |
|---|---|
| Divorce | Mutual consent petition under Section 13B HMA before the Family Court, Shivajinagar, with a request to waive the cooling-off period where the facts allow |
| Alimony | One-time amount, instalments tied to the first and second motions, and the mode of payment (demand draft or bank transfer recorded in court) |
| Stridhan and articles | A list of items to be returned, by whom and when, with an acknowledgment |
| Children | Custody, access schedule, school and holiday arrangements, and child maintenance separate from wife’s alimony |
| Criminal cases | Agreement to jointly seek quashing of 498A and connected FIRs in the Bombay High Court under Section 528 BNSS |
| Other proceedings | Withdrawal of DV, maintenance, civil and in-laws’ cases, in every court where they are pending |
| No future claims | Undertaking that neither side nor their families will file fresh cases on the same facts |
Why the sequence matters
The common mistake is paying the full amount at the first motion and then finding the other side slow to withdraw the criminal case. Tie each payment to a step: part at the first motion, part when the quashing petition is filed with the complainant’s consent affidavit, the balance at the second motion. The Supreme Court’s order shows the same logic, with a first tranche paid earlier and the balance handed over in court at the end.
Remember also that a 498A FIR cannot simply be ‘withdrawn’ by the complainant. It has to be quashed by the High Court, and the Bombay High Court has recently imposed costs on parties in consent quashings. Factor that into the timeline and the budget.
When the cases are spread across states
Many Pune matters involve a spouse from another state. If cases are pending in two states and a settlement looks possible, a transfer petition to the Supreme Court is a legitimate step in its own right, and the Supreme Court Mediation Centre is often where these settlements are finally reached. That is exactly how this case ended.
The bottom line
If you and your spouse have agreed to separate, do not settle the divorce alone. List every case, in every court, involving either of you or your families, and settle them together in one document with payments tied to steps. That is what turns an agreement into an actual ending.