Man can seek divorce if wife forces him to stay away from parents: Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court has recently made a significant ruling stating that a husband can file for a divorce on grounds of mental cruelty if his wife tries to compel him to separate from his parents without justifiable reason. The court emphasized that it is the son's obligation to live with and maintain his parents, which is considered normal in Indian culture and ethos.

The ruling came after a bench of justices Soumen Sen and Uday Kumar turned down a woman's plea challenging a family court's decision to grant her husband a divorce. The case dates back to 2009 when a family court in West Midnapore granted Prashant Kumar Mandal a divorce from his wife, Jharna, on grounds of cruelty.

The family court had based its order on the premise that since their 2001 marriage, Jharna had publicly insulted Prashant, calling him "unemployed" and a "coward." Prashant was a part-time teacher and private tutor, and his income was insufficient to support the family. To make ends meet, he would occasionally ask Jharna, who was earning Rs 1,400 a month, to help out with the finances.

The high court bench, while hearing Jharna's plea against the order, observed that the wife had no justifiable reason to compel her husband to separate from his parents. Additionally, the court stated that it was the "pious obligation of the son" to live and maintain his parents, and that such conduct was "absolutely normal" in Indian culture.