DNA

• Husband and wife, in two different continents, connect to judge in Chennai via videocon to annul their marriage

Chennai, Sep 22: It was quicker than a tooth extraction. And, perhaps, less painful too. In, perhaps, the first-of-its-kind legal procedure, a Chennai court on Wednesday granted divorce to software engineers Srikanth and Deepa, who are in two different continents, after confirming their consent over the webcam.

The divorce order was sent to Srikanth in the US, and Deepa, who is working in Australia, immediately by email, and copies were given to their relatives who were present in the court. The entire procedure was over in 15 minutes.

In fact everything about the couple’s relationship was quick. They got married soon after they met in 2005; got separated in 2006; filed for divorce early this year; and a family court granted them divorce through a video conference.

Srikanth and Deepa (not their real names), who got married under the Hindu Marriage Act, filed for consensual divorce without any claims six months ago. As both were in different countries, they pleaded their inability to be physically present in the court. Instead, they gave power of attorney to their relatives__ Deepa to her uncle and Srikanth to his father.

Since the court set-up was not compatible for videoconferencing, Deepa’s uncle offered his laptop, microphone and webcam to principal judge R Devadoss. The couple was asked to log in at the appointed time. The judge read out from a questionnaire separately to the couple: Do you have any children? Do you have any claims? After getting replies in the negative, “incompatibility” was stated as reason for divorce, and the procedure wrapped up.

“Divorce is not a happy occasion, but everyone involved was happy with the pace and efficiency of the internet-aided procedure. It saved a lot of money for the parties and time for the court,” advocate Bala Natarajan, who appeared with advocate V Ahalya for both the parties in the consensual divorce, told DNA.