NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has said that the marriage should not be taken as broken down irretrievably just because the parties are living separately, adding that courts must find out who among the couple was responsible for breaking the marital tie.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymala Bagchi made the observation in an order passed on November 14 while setting aside a high court ruling, allowing husband’s plea for divorce, and directed the HC bench to consider the matter afresh.

“We may hasten to add that courts, in recent times, often observe that since the parties are living separately, the marriage should be taken to have broken irretrievably. However, before jumping to such a conclusion, it is imperative upon the family court or the high court to determine as to who out of the two is responsible for breaking the marital tie and forcing the other to live separately,” the apex court said.

It added that unless there was cogent evidence for willful desertion or refusal to cohabit and look after the other spouse, the finding of marriage having been broken irretrievably is likely to have devastating effects, especially on the children.