New Delhi, Nov. 15 -- The Supreme Court on Friday cautioned courts against treating matrimonial separations as proof of an irretrievable breakdown of marriage, underscoring that a union cannot be dissolved merely because spouses have been living apart for some time. Emphasising the need for careful judicial scrutiny, a bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said courts carry an "onerous duty" to examine all the material facts, including responsibility for the separation and the impact of a divorce on children, before concluding that a marriage is beyond repair. "We have come across this recent trend where courts casually arrive at a conclusion that a marriage has broken down just because the spouses are living separately for some ...