Coronavirus led to broken marriages, says Madras High Court judge

The coronavirus and the consequent COVID-19 lockdown had not only taken away human lives but also destroyed the institution of marriage during the period between 2020 and 2022, Justice N Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court said on Friday (October 16, 2026).

The judge made the observation after finding that in the last three months, almost every other matrimonial dispute dealt by him was with respect to marriages that had taken place between 2020 and 2022.

In more than 95% of those cases, the parties had hardly lived together for six to nine months and in some cases, they had lived together only for three months. Incidentally, that period was when there was a total lockdown due to the pandemic situation, he pointed out.

“Since the parties were  inside the same house, the best and worst aspects of their characters were exposed and most of them were under pressure, thinking about their future and it had a direct impact on their marital relationship,” the judge said.

He opined that the matrimonial disputes which had arisen between the years 2020 and 2022 must be dealt with as a separate category by the Family Courts across the State and an out of the box thinking was required to resolve those disputes.

“This is in view of the fact that the parties  lived together hardly for a few months and they were going through extraordinary circumstances due to the pandemic. Hence, this Court is inclined to see if a different method can be adopted to resolve all those matrimonial disputes that had taken place between 2020 to 2022,” he wrote.

The judge directed the Principal District and Sessions Judges across Tamil Nadu to collect data from all the Family Courts under their jurisdiction with respect to matrimonial disputes that had arisen between 2020 and 2022 and place the details before him by November 27, 2026.

Justice Venkatesh said after the data gets placed before him, he would seek the assistance of the counsel who have rich experience in resolving domestic disputes and see if a different kind of solution could be adopted in all these cases. “This Court is confident that such a step will surely have a positive impact and it will help in many families coming together by resolving the disputes amicably,” he hoped.

The orders were passed after disposing of a civil revision petition filed by an individual challenging Alandur Sub Court’s order directing him to pay monthly maintenance of ₹10,000 to his estranged wife. The judge affirmed the Sub Court’s order but kept the petition pending to resolve the larger issue related to broken marriages during COVID-19.