India’s Supreme Court on Thursday denied an octogenarian the right to divorce, settling the case 27 years after he originally sought the dissolution of his 60-year-old marriage.
Nirmal Singh Panesar, 89, and his wife Paramjit Kaur Panesar, 82, married in 1963.
In 1984, his wife refused to move to the southern city of Madras, where the Indian Air Force had stationed her husband.
According to documents filed with the Indian courts, the husband, seeking to regain his freedom, stated that the marital relationship had irretrievably ended this year.
Mr. Panesar had only filed for divorce in 1996, citing cruelty and abandonment. A district court granted him acquittal in 2000, but it was overturned that same year after his wife appealed.
In India, people seeking a divorce must seek permission from the courts, which usually only grant it if evidence of cruelty, violence or even excessive financial demands is presented.
The Supreme Court took more than two decades to reject the divorce, but recognized that the union of the couple, who have three children, was “irretrievable.”
“The institution of marriage has always been viewed in Indian society as an emotional, pious, spiritual and priceless bond between a man and a woman,” the court emphasized in its verdict released on Thursday.
According to the ruling, granting the dissolution of that marriage would be an “injustice” for Ms. Panesar, who argued that she did not want to die with the “stigma” of being a divorcee.
She also argued that she had never broken the “sacred bond” of marriage and said she was still willing to take care of her older husband.
Divorce remains taboo in most parts of India, where only one in 100 marriages ends in dissolution.
The Indian justice system suffers from chronic backlogs, with some cases taking decades to reach a final resolution.
According to government figures, around 43.2 million cases were pending in the country’s courts last year.