New Delhi, May 1: On May 1st, a Constitution bench headed by Justice S K Kaul stated that the Supreme Court has the power to dissolve a marriage on the grounds of irretrievable breakdown. The five-judge bench also consisted of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, A S Oka, Vikram Nath, and J K Maheshwari. The verdict was delivered on a series of petitions concerning the exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, which allows the Supreme Court to dissolve broken-down marriages without referring them to family courts for lengthy legal procedures to obtain a separation decree.