Sediris Singho v. Somawathy – 1978_79 volume 2 page 140

In the case between Sediris Singho (plaintiff-appellant) and Somawathy (1st defendant-respondent), the court addressed whether a plaintiff’s own adultery remains a bar to obtaining a divorce under the amended Civil Procedure Code (Law No. 20 of 1977). It was held that, following the repeal of the former proviso to section 602, the plaintiff’s prior adultery does not preclude the granting of a divorce where malicious desertion and adultery by the 1st defendant are established. The decision established that the material changes to the statute permit a decree of divorce upon sufficient proof of the 1st defendant’s misconduct, and affirmed custody, damages, and costs in favor of the plaintiff. This outcome reaffirmed the principle that substantive statutory amendments override prior procedural