The Delhi High Court has granted divorce to a man on the ground of cruelty by his wife who was under the influence of her parents and could not “wean away” from them to forge a relationship with him.
A bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait said it was “evident” that there was an “unwarranted interference of the parents and the family members” of the wife in the matrimonial life, which caused immense harassment to the husband.
The high court, while deciding the husband’s appeal against a family court order refusing to grant him divorce, observed that the parties were residing separately for about 13 years, during which the husband was deprived of his conjugal relationship and also faced multiple complaints before the different agencies, which were “acts of cruelty”.
“We, therefore, conclude that the appellant (husband) has been able to successfully prove that he was subjected to cruelty by the respondent and is entitled to divorce,” the bench, also comprising Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, said in a recent order.
“(The wife’s conduct) clearly strengthens the depositions of the appellant that she was under her parental influence and was unable to wean away from her parents and forge relationship with the appellant. Clearly, there was rejection of matrimony and the obligations that it brings with it. Such conduct of the respondent can only be termed as mental cruelty towards the appellant,” the court stated.
The court said any insistence to continue a “dead relationship” would only be perpetuating further cruelty upon both the parties.
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The court stated while every aggrieved person has the absolute right to initiate appropriate legal action and has every right to approach the state machinery, filing of the false complaint against the husband and his family members constitutes mental cruelty.
It also said the bedrock of any matrimonial relationship is cohabitation and conjugal relationships and for a spouse to be deprived of his wife’s company proves that the marriage cannot survive, and such deprivation of conjugal relationships is an act of extreme cruelty.
“Such long separation with no effort by the wife to resume matrimonial relationship, is an act of cruelty,” it stated.
In the present case, the court said, the evidence on record proved that there was no chance of reconciliation between the parties and such long separation peppered which false allegations, police reports and criminal trial can only be termed as mental cruelty.
