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 time," the bench held. Such findings, the court noted, cannot be made "without looking into material facts," including "who among the two is responsible for deserting the other or responsible for making the other spouse leave". Noting that a hasty conclusion on irrevocable breakdown can have "devastating effect, especially on children", the bench said that unless there is clear evidence of wilful desertion, refusal to cohabit, or allegations that make it impossible for the couple to live together, dissolution of marriage cannot rest merely on the fact of long separation. Courts, it stressed, must consider social circumstances and other relevant factors before declaring a marriage dead. Finding that such an exercise had not been undertaken by the Uttarakhand high court in the present case, the Supreme Court set aside the judgment and remitted the matter to the high court for fresh consideration. The bench was dealing with a 2019 judgment of the Uttarakhand high court, which had overturned the dismissal of a husband's divorce petition and granted him a decree of divorce on the ground of cruelty. The high court had reasoned that the marriage had broken down irretrievably. The dispute arises from a marriage solemnised in May 2009, followed by the birth of a son the next year. Both spouses are doctors, and the husband's father runs a nursing home in Rishikesh. According to the husband, the relationship deteriorated almost immediately, with quarrels and confrontations spilling over into his father's nursing home. He alleged that the wife repeatedly left the matrimonial home. The wife agreed she left multiple times, but maintained that each departure was due to cruelty and mistreatment....