Chhattisgarh High Court recently noted that if the husband asks his wife to stay at a place other than his without any sufficient reason and she opposes it, it cannot be considered cruelty on her part.
The High Court bench comprising Justice Goutam Bhaduri and Justice Radhakishan Agrawal was hearing an appeal filed by the husband against the family court’s order where it didn’t allow his petition for divorce on the grounds of cruelty.
“The analysis of the evidence shows that the husband insisted the wife to stay at his mother’s place even if he was posted in the city. It is obvious that if the wife insists to stay with the husband … and without any extraneous reason or official cause, if the husband refuses to keep her it cannot be said to be a cruelty by the wife towards the husband for such insistence,” the bench said.
The bench stated that matrimonial relationships, reciprocal respect and regard to each other and the company is necessary.
The court added, “In absence thereof any forceful imposition of condition by either side may lead to a matrimonial disruption. So if the husband expects the wife to stay at a place other than his company without any sufficient cause it cannot be stated that because of resistance by the wife to stay apart-it be a cruelty by wife.”
The couple got married in 2004. As per the husband, he was posted in the Naxalite area where families were not allowed. Subsequently, the enraged wife filed a case before the family court.
Before the family court, the husband alleged that because of the “trivial issue”, his wife started behaving improperly with his family members. It allegedly reached an extent where it turned into cruelty to his aged mother. He further claimed that the wife had also made false allegations of dowry harassment against him and was exonerated in a case under Section 498A of Indian Penal Code.
To which the wife argued that he was in the Naxalite area for only a short period. She submitted that the husband was posted in different other locations in Raipur but the husband didn’t take her with him and left her alone in the village. The wife also stated that the husband used to stay away from her without any reason.
The High Court bench upheld the family court decision and found no merits in his appeal.
