In a rare judgement, a civil court on Tuesday granted divorce to an NRI couple after hearing the woman petitioner, who is a Lonon based techie, through video conference.

The couple filed the divorce plea by mutual consent under the section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, before a Pune civil court on August 12, 2016.

Advocate Suchit Mundada who presented the woman petitioner said: "The couple, who are IT professionals got married in May 2015. However, barely within two months of their marriage, differences cropped up between them and they started staying separately."

Mundada’s client was unable to leave the United Kingdom for the court hearing, as the terms and conditions of her job did not allow her to leave.

"I, on behalf of her, filed an application before the court seeking permission to conduct the hearing through video conferencing, which the court agreed," said Mundada.

On April 28, the husband came down to Pune from Singapore, where he is working currently, whereas the wife appeared via video-conference.

Judge V.S. Maklapatte Reddy passed the judgment stating that the marriage between the parties’ stands dissolved under section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

"Having considered the contentions of the petition along with the respective affidavits, it transpired that the parties have been living separately since June 30, 2015. They have not been able to live compassionately and have mutually agreed that their marriage should be dissolved," the judge observed.

The advocate claimed that this for the first time that a court has used technology to grant a divorce.

"Generally, physical presence of both the husband and the wife is necessary in the court in such cases," he said.

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