The Bombay High Court has allowed the husband’s demand for divorce on the ground that the wife has been living separately for more than 20 years. Not only this, the court has also dissolved the marriage of the couple. The court said that the conduct of the wife in the case comes under the ambit of cruelty. The married life of the couple involved in the case has completely broken down. There is a lack of intimacy in the marital relationship. The marriage relationship is unlikely to be revived. Both have left each other. The wife has been living separately from her husband since December 2002. The couple had earlier applied for divorce by mutual consent in Thane District Court, but later the wife had withdrawn the consent for divorce. In view of this, the divorce application was dismissed by the District Court. The husband appealed to the High Court against the order of the lower court.
The couple involved in the case were married on April 19, 1999. This was the second marriage of both of them. Both had one daughter each from their first marriage. After some time of marriage, the relationship between husband and wife turned sour. According to the husband, the differences in his and his wife’s nature, habits, interests and thoughts were increasing, due to which the tension in the relationship was not reducing. The family members were troubled by the wife’s stubborn nature and dominating tendencies.
According to the husband, one day the limit was reached when a few days before the fourth death anniversary of my first wife, the present wife removed her photo from the wall and threw it away. The condition of the place where the photo was taken was made such that the photo could not be posted there again. The wife’s behavior towards his old mother and daughter was also not good, due to which his aim and dream of getting married was completely defeated. Due to these actions of his wife, he has had to face immense mental cruelty. That is why his demand for divorce should be accepted.
The husband’s appeal was heard before Justice PK Chavan. After the hearing, Justice Chavan found that the wife has not appeared in the High Court even once since the hearing in the lower court. This appeal has been pending in the court for 18 years. The wife has not done any research into the appeal. The lower court has not properly understood the facts and evidence related to the case. The marriage of the couple involved in the case has broken. The disintegration in the marital relationship is clearly visible and there is no scope for improvement. The wife’s actions fall within the ambit of Section 13(1AB) of the Hindu Marriage Act. This is related to mental toughness. In this way, Justice Chavan has canceled the order of Thane Court rejecting the husband’s divorce.
