New Delhi, April 14 -- The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that parties cannot casually walk away from a mediated settlement in matrimonial disputes after accepting its benefits and then initiate fresh legal proceedings, unless they establish "force, fraud, undue influence or non-compliance" by the other side. A bench of justices Rajesh Bindal and Vijay Bishnoi said that while a party can legally withdraw consent to divorce by mutual consent before the final decree, it cannot back out of a mediated settlement that resolves all disputes between the parties. Once such a settlement is reached and authenticated by a mediator, its terms bind both sides and if a party resiles from the agreement without valid grounds such as fraud or coercion, court...