Wife persisting on live with husband at his place of posting is not cruel: Chhattisgarh High Court
Last Updated on October 1, 2023 by News Desk
Issue – The Chhattisgarh High Court has ruled that remaining with the spouse at his place of work is not cruelty within the Hindu Marriage Act.
Facts of the case – The pair tied the knot on May 19, 2005. They lived peacefully for a while, then things progressively deteriorated. The husband said that the wife insisted on living apart from her in-laws. When her spouse refused to grant her request, she frequently provoked fights.
The husband further stated that the wife left the marital home willingly in June 2009 and returned only in December 2009. She abruptly departed the marital home once more.
He said that following the deaths of his mother in 2012 and father in 2015, he asked her to return to the matrimonial home, but she refused.
The woman, on the other hand, said that she and her husband only lived happily together for five years following their marriage. When she insisted on accompanying him to his station and living with him there, he refused. She said that he began ignoring her in 2010, prompting her to leave the matrimonial home.
Arguments – It is evident that if the wife insists on being with the husband and without any additional reason or official cause, if the husband refuses to retain her at the posting site, the woman’s persistence cannot be considered harsh to the husband.
Reasoning – When the husband’s conduct was at fault in not allowing his wife to reside with him, and in such compelling circumstances, if the wife is living separately at her parental house and the husband has also not made any effort or called any social meeting or taken any steps for filing any application for restitution of conjugal rights, mere assertion in the plaint that the wife has been residing separately since December 2009 for any sufficient cause is not found to be pleading.
Judgement – The bench denied the appeal and ordered the husband to pay the wife $15,000 in interim maintenance.
Provisions used in the case – Hindu Marriage Act
Case title – Ravishankar Shrivas vs Sarita Sen
Written by – Nikita Shankar
