Inhumane to disrespect husband & his family: MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed a wife's appeal of a Bhopal Family Court order granting the husband a divorce on the grounds of cruelty, stating that disrespectful and degrading behavior towards the husband, as well as the family's elders and the community, constitutes cruelty towards the husband. The evidence on file clearly indicated that the appellant's wife's behavior was not respectful to her husband or any of his family members and would be interpreted as cruelty towards the husband, according to a bench consisting of Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Virender Singh.

The learned Family Court concluded that the husband has established the cruelty after reviewing all of the material. The facts presented in court and as previously indicated would strongly imply that the appellant-conduct wife towards the respondent or a member of his family was not respectful. The same could be interpreted as being nasty to the husband.

"The evidence also demonstrates that the appellant's justification for leaving her marital home is unsatisfactory and that she is currently living apart from her spouse without a justifiable reason. Since 2013, the parties have both been living alone; there hasn't been any cohabitation. The woman doesn't want to continue living with her spouse. Given these facts, in our opinion, the learned Family Court acted correctly in granting the divorce decree on the basis of cruelty," said High Court.

The respondent woman had filed a case with the High Court to challenge the Family Court's decision to grant her husband's request for a divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion. The Family Court determined that the grounds were established, but decided that the two-year waiting period for desertion had not passed by the time the husband filed the petition. As a result, the court authorized the petition on the basis of "cruelty" and granted the couple's request for a divorce. The Supreme Court ordered that the Supreme Court shift the husband's divorce petition from Jaipur to the wife's hometown of Bhopal.

The husband claimed that his wife is quite conceited and has a complex about being the adored daughter of an IPS officer. He also claimed that she is very proud, arrogant, stubborn, short-tempered, and pretentious. He added that she began disobeying everyone the moment she moved into her wedded home, claiming that she is a progressive girl who neither enjoys nor adheres to conventional norms. When her mother called her for the custom of face unveiling (Muh Dikhai) upon her entry into the matrimonial home following the marriage, she very rudely refused to leave the room, the husband said. Their relatives and members of their community had gathered to greet her. She began ranting that she doesn't believe in such ridiculous traditions and that she is not an article to be shown before the people as his mother tried to encourage her by saying that this is an age-old tradition, the husband continued.

The wife, on the other hand, claimed that the husband and members of his family had treated her physically and mentally, and she described the husband's behavior as extremely nasty, rude, disrespectful, and disgraceful. She said that the husband, his parents, and other family members taunted, insulted, and harassed her for not bringing enough money and that the husband frequently used physical violence against her. She added that her mother-in-law was pressuring her to stop doing her PG course and that her husband was not helping her to pay for household bills or meet her daily requirements. She claimed that she was relying solely on the stipend she received for taking the PG course to support herself. 

She further said that everytime she went to see her in-laws in Jaipur, her brother-in-law (Dewar) and sisters-in-law (Nanad) would beat and abuse her. She also claimed that the husband's family members had mistreated and disrespected her parents.