You went through mediation to end your marriage. You agreed on the alimony, the custody, and the return of belongings, and the mediator authenticated the settlement. A few weeks later you had second thoughts and now you want to walk away from the whole deal. Can you? The short answer is no. In most cases you cannot simply change your mind and resile from a signed mediated settlement. The Supreme Court of India made this very clear in 2026.
The case is Dhananjay Rathi v. Ruchika Rathi, 2026 INSC 360, decided on 13 April 2026 by Justices Rajesh Bindal and Vijay Bishnoi. The Court held that once both sides record their terms in a settlement that the mediator has duly authenticated, neither party can back out merely because they later regret it. You can escape the agreement only on narrow, serious grounds, and a party who tries to wriggle out without them risks being made to pay heavily.
If you signed a mediated divorce settlement and the mediator authenticated it, you are bound by it. You cannot cancel it just because you changed your mind. You can challenge it only if you can prove force, fraud, or undue influence, or if the other side fails to do what they promised.
The dispute in Dhananjay Rathi arose after the parties reached a mediation settlement to end their marriage. The wife later accepted benefits flowing from it and then sought to keep her domestic violence proceedings alive. The Supreme Court treated this as an attempt to take the gains while disowning the burdens.
The Court laid down a firm rule. A mediated settlement is not a casual draft. It is the result of a structured process where both sides negotiate freely and the mediator records and authenticates the agreed terms. Allowing a party to resile at will would defeat the purpose of mediation. In the Court's words, a party who resiles without valid grounds must be “encumbered with heavy costs.”
On the facts, the Court used Article 142 of the Constitution to dissolve the marriage and give effect to the settlement. It quashed the wife's domestic violence proceedings as an abuse of process, since she had already accepted benefits under the very settlement she was trying to undercut.
The judgment carves out limited exceptions. You may resile from a signed, authenticated mediated settlement only if you can show one of the following.
If none of these apply and you simply changed your mind, the settlement stands. A vague claim of unfairness or regret will not be enough. You will need clear, specific proof.
Mediated settlements in matrimonial cases are actively encouraged because they save years of litigation. Under the Mediation Act, 2023, a mediated settlement agreement is binding and enforceable, much like a decree of court. This is why the Supreme Court treats a signed and authenticated settlement as close to final. The protection runs both ways: it binds the other side when they try to back out, and it binds you when you have second thoughts.
Because the document is so hard to undo, the moment before signing matters most.
For example, Kashvi Pathak insisted that the exact dates for her alimony instalments be written into the settlement before she signed. When a disagreement arose later, the written timeline meant she could enforce her terms instead of arguing over what was promised.
If you genuinely fall within one of the exceptions, act quickly and build your record.
Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak, for instance, kept every email in which the other side had misrepresented a shared bank balance during negotiations. That paper trail turned a bare allegation into a provable case of fraud.
The Right to Information Act, 2005 will not let you reopen a settlement, but it can help you gather records that matter in related disputes, such as property mutation, salary slips relevant to maintenance, or pension details. Use our AI RTI Drafter to prepare a clean application, the First Appeal Builder if you are stonewalled, and the Timeline Tracker to track deadlines. To understand your rights, start with the RTI Act 2005 overview.
No. Under Dhananjay Rathi v. Ruchika Rathi, 2026 INSC 360, a change of mind is not a valid reason. Once the mediator authenticates the settlement, you are bound unless you can prove force, fraud, undue influence, or non-performance by the other side.
The Supreme Court said a party who resiles from agreed terms without grounds must be “encumbered with heavy costs.” You stay bound by the settlement and may be made to pay penalties for trying to escape it.
Yes. Under the Mediation Act, 2023, a mediated settlement agreement is binding and enforceable, similar to a court decree. That is why courts treat it as close to final.
Non-performance by the other side is a recognised ground. If they fail to pay or to do what they promised, you are not stuck with a one-sided deal. You can move the court to enforce the agreement or seek relief for the breach.
Yes, and badly. In Dhananjay Rathi, the wife accepted benefits under the settlement and then tried to continue separate proceedings. The Court treated this as an abuse of process. Taking the gains while disowning the burdens severely weakens any later challenge.
Yes. Here the Court used Article 142 of the Constitution to dissolve the marriage in line with the settlement and to quash proceedings that were an abuse of process.
Need help building a clean record for a related dispute? Read The RTI Playbook for a step-by-step approach to getting the documents you need.