Landmark judgements
Not the daily case-law feed — this is the small set of Supreme Court and High Court decisions that set the rules everything else follows: on maintenance, custody, divorce and related matters. General information only, not legal advice.
Guardianship — Mother as Natural Guardian · 17 Feb 1999
The petitioner applied to the Reserve Bank of India for relief bonds to be issued in the name of her minor son, seeking to be recognised as his natural guardian…
Supreme Court of India · (1999) 2 SCC 228 · PDF available
Muslim Women's Maintenance — Constitutional Validity · 28 Sept 2001
Following the political and legal controversy that arose after an earlier Supreme Court maintenance ruling involving a Muslim woman, Parliament enacted the Musl…
Supreme Court of India · (2001) 7 SCC 740; AIR 2001 SC 3958 · PDF available
Maintenance — Muslim Women Under Section 125 · 4 Dec 2009
The parties married under Muslim personal law at Gwalior in 2001. The wife later left the matrimonial home, alleging cruelty and dowry demands, and filed an app…
Supreme Court of India · (2010) 1 SCC 666; AIR 2010 SC 305 · PDF available
Arrest Guidelines — Section 498A Cases · 2 Jul 2014
The appellant, apprehending arrest in a case registered under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (cruelty by a husband or his relatives) and Section 4 of the…
Supreme Court of India · (2014) 8 SCC 273; AIR 2014 SC 2756 · PDF available
Guardianship — Unwed Mother as Sole Guardian · 6 Jul 2015
An unmarried woman, who had raised her son from birth without any involvement or support from the child's biological father, applied under the Guardians and War…
Supreme Court of India · 2015 SCC OnLine SC 609 · PDF available
Triple Talaq — Constitutional Validity · 22 Aug 2017
The petitioner's marriage was dissolved by her husband through an instant, unilateral pronouncement of talaq-e-biddat ("triple talaq"), a form of divorce under …
Supreme Court of India · (2017) 9 SCC 1 · PDF available
Mutual Consent Divorce — Cooling-Off Period · 12 Sept 2017
The parties sought a divorce by mutual consent under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, which requires a minimum interval of six months (and up to eighteen …
Supreme Court of India · (2017) 8 SCC 746; AIR 2017 SC 4417 · PDF available
Marital Rape Exception — Minor Wives · 11 Oct 2017
A registered NGO filed a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution challenging Exception 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which excluded sexu…
Supreme Court of India · (2017) 10 SCC 800; AIR 2017 SC 4904 · PDF available
Adultery — Section 497 IPC Struck Down · 27 Sept 2018
A public interest petition was filed under Article 32 of the Constitution challenging the constitutional validity of Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which…
Supreme Court of India · AIR 2018 SC 4898 · PDF available
Section 498A — Territorial Jurisdiction · 9 Apr 2019
The case arose from conflicting judicial views on a recurring procedural question: where a woman alleges cruelty by her husband or his relatives at the matrimon…
Supreme Court of India · 2019 INSC 480; AIR 2019 SC 1790 · PDF available
Maintenance — Landmark Guidelines · 4 Nov 2020
The wife had filed an application for interim maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for herself and the couple's minor son. The Family…
Supreme Court of India · Criminal Appeal No. 730 of 2020 (arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 9503 of 2018); (2021) AIR SC 569 · PDF available
Settlement Finality — Article 142 Divorce · 13 Apr 2026
The parties, married in 2000, separated around 2022-23, after which the husband filed a contested divorce petition. On a reference to court-supervised mediation…
Supreme Court of India · 2026 INSC 360; Criminal Appeal No. 1924 of 2026 · PDF available
These summaries explain what a court held, on its specific facts. They are not legal advice and cannot tell you how a court will rule in your matter — that depends on facts only an advocate who has read your file can weigh. MyCaseFile is not a law firm.
