The main legal point established in the judgment is the authority of a power of attorney holder to act on behalf of a party in court proceedings and the discretion of the court to waive the cooling period for mutual consent divorce under Section 13B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act.

JUDGMENT :

(Prayer: Civil Revision Petition filed under Article 227 of the Constitution of India to direct the Family Court, Madurai, to number the unnumbered Divorce Original Petition in SR.No.695 of 2022 filed by the petitioners on 27.06.2022 itself and to waive off the statutory cooling period of six months prescribed under Section 13B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and to dispose of the Divorce Petition within a stipulated time.)

1. This civil revision petition is filed as against the docket entries made in the unnumbered Divorce Original Petition in SR.No.695 of 2022.

2. The petitioners are husband and wife. Their marriage was solemnized on 29.08.2018 as per Hindu Nagarathar customs. After the marriage, their relationship got strained and they decided to separate mutually. They are living separately for more than a year and have also filed an application for divorce before the Family Court, Madurai, based on the deed of compromise arrived between the parties on 08.06.2022. This application was presented by both the petitioners on 13.06.2022 under Section 13B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, along with an emergent application. The said application was returned by the learned Judge on 20.06.2022 that separate power of attorney has to be filed and that any one prayer has to be mentioned. The petitioners re-presented the application with an endorsement that they filed the petition for a common and consequent prayer and therefore, there is no requirement for a separate petition under Order 3 Rule 1, 2 CPC and the Family Court Act. Even thereafter, the application was not numbered, but was adjourned. Aggrieved over the same, the petitioners have moved the present revision petition for a direction to number the unnumbered divorce petition in SR.No.695 of 2022 filed by the petitioners and to waive off the statutory cooling period of six months prescribed under Section 13B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act.

3. Learned Counsel for the petitioners submitted that Order 3 Rules 1, 2 CPC categorically provides that appearance may be through a recognized agent and there is no restrictions for the Family Court for entertaining the application filed through power of attorney. By referring the definition of power of attorney from the Black's Law Dictionary, learned Counsel submitted that power of attorney is an instrument by which, a person is authorised to act as an agent of the person granting it and the relation between the donor and donee of the power is recognized under Section 182 of the Indian Contract Act. Once such authority is granted, the Act recognizes everything done by the donee in the name and with the signature of the donor thereof.

4. He further submitted that in the divorce petition, they sought for dissolving the marriage and the consequent registration of the marriage in Reg.No. 142/2018 on the file of the Registrar of Marriages, Ponnamaravathi. But the learned Judge misinterpreted the prayer as two separate prayers and asked to mention anyone. If the marriage is dissolved without setting aside the consequential registration, no purpose would be solved. The registration is consequential to the marriage solemnized. Therefore, he prayed for appropriate orders.

5. He has also relied upon the decision of this Court in Sudha Ramalingam v. Registrar General, High Court of Madras [AIR 2015 266 (MAD)] and the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur [2017 (8) SCC 746].

6. Heard the learned Counsel appearing for the petitioners and perused the available materials.

7. The petitioners/husband and wife, who got married in the year 2018, decided to dissolve the marriage in a hurried manner. They are living separately for more than a year and have filed an application under Section 13B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act for mutual divorce with an emergent application. They have also sought to waive off the statutory cooling period.

8. Order 3 Rule 1 CPC empowers the party in a suit/proceedings to be represented by a