A Divorce that is filed by one party and the other party defends the same comes under the category of Contested Divorce, That as per the Hindu Marriage Act, Grounds on which a Husband can obtain Divorce from his wife includes – adultery, desertion, renunciation of the world, conversion to another religion, cruelty
Facts Of Narendra vs. K Minakshi
The Appeal was filed by the Husband against his wife for seeking Divorce on the Grounds of Cruelty stating that he got married in February 1992 and had a daughter that was born in November 1993. It was stated by the Husband that since one month of the Marriage the wife stated making the life of the husband miserable. The suspicious nature of the wife made it difficult for the Husband to live in the same roof. All the time she used to allege that the Husband is having an Extra-Marital Affair with someone else.
The wife used to constantly force the Husband to leave and get separated from the Parents and when the Husband refused she started resorting to threats and on one occasion in 1995 she also attempted to commit suicide. The husband and his brother along with some neighbours rushed in to prevent her from committing suicide.
In November 2001, the husband filed a contested divorce application with the Family court in Faridabad against the wife on the grounds of mental cruelty. The Family Court in Faridabad granted a decree of divorce considering these facts and the wife filed an appeal with the High Court that set aside the divorce decree in 2006. The husband filed the appeal against the decision of the High Court with the apex court with the help of a divorce lawyer in Faridabad.
Cruelty As A Ground For Divorce In The Case
The Family Court of Faridabad considered the extorting demands made by the wife to get the husband separated from his family members. The wife wanted the husband to live separately from his family but at the same time also to have access to his earnings. It was also found that the wife deserted the husband after the attempt to suicide. Considering all these facts, the Supreme Court held that the husband was rightfully entitled to get a divorce under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
The Supreme Court agreed with the decision of the Family Court of Faridabad court and observed that the wife wanted the appellant husband to get separated from his family members, who relied on the husband’s income for sustenance. This prevalent practice in India and the cultural and moral traditions also asks for a Hindu son to support his parents all the way and does not allow the son to leave his parents after marriage at the instance of his wife. A son who has been given education by the Parents is not only Morally obligated but also there is a Legal Obligation to maintain them and it cannot be expected from a wife to force the Husband to leave his parents.
The Family Court of Faridabad came to the conclusion that merely for monetary considerations, the wife wanted to get her husband separated from his family. A son maintaining his parents is absolutely normal in Indian culture and ethos. There is no other reason for which the wife wanted the husband to be separated from the family- the sole reason was to enjoy his income.
In the court’s opinion, normally, no husband would tolerate this and no son would like to be separated from his old parents and other family members, who are also dependent upon his income. The persistent effort of the wife to constrain the husband to be separated from the family would be torturous for the husband and in the opinion of the apex court, and the Family Court of Faridabad was right when it came to the conclusion that this constitutes an act of ‘cruelty’.
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