NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has granted divorce to a couple by conducting the proceedings through video conferencing due to suspension of work in courts in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
Family Court Judge Deepak Garg passed the order after the joint statement of the couple was recorded separately through video conferencing.
Soft copies of the joint statement were sent to the parties who after signing it sent it at the court point.
I am satisfied that the petitioners have given their consent to this petition voluntarily and no force, coercion, fraud or undue influence has been committed upon them.
The petition has not been filed by them in collusion with each other, the judge said in the order passed on June 12.
During the hearing held through video conferencing, the petitioners amicably resolved all their disputes pertaining to the marriage and agreed to not initiate any litigation or raise any claim in future against each other and the family members.
The petitioners got married in June 2017 and have been living separately since December 2018.
Efforts of reconciliation and resolution of differences were made by them and their family members but the same have failed, the court observed.
The man and the woman had sought dissolution of their marriage by a decree of divorce by mutual consent.
Family courts have been functioning in a restricted manner since May due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Divorce through video conferencing has been granted before too.
There have been instances before where one of the persons was an NRI and could not come to court for hearing," said a court source.
Earlier in 2017, a city court in Pune had granted divorce to an NRI couple through video conferencing after hearing the woman who was in London and unable to leave the United Kingdom for court hearing.
In 2015, a Delhi court had recorded the statement of the husband, who was in New Jersey, through video conferencing in a divorce case.