Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court’s Division Bench has granted divorce in a case that includes significant observations on marital cruelty and personal autonomy in modern marriages.
Justices Saumitra Dayal Singh and Donadi Ramesh heard an appeal against a lower court’s dismissal of a divorce petition filed in 2001.
Allahabad HC on Marital Cruelty: Key Observations in Divorce Case
The case involved a couple married in 1990, with the husband seeking divorce on grounds of mental cruelty and desertion. The marriage produced one child in 1995, and the couple has lived separately since at least 2001.
The court notably observed that a wife’s independent behavior cannot constitute cruelty, stating: “The act of the respondent being free-willed or a person who would travel on her own or meet up with other members of civil society without forming any illegal or immoral relationship, may not be described as an act of cruelty.”
23 Years of Separation: Court Cites Supreme Court Precedent to Grant Divorce
Addressing modern marital dynamics, the court emphasized that both parties were well-educated—the husband an engineer and the wife a government teacher—stating: “Difference of perception towards life may give rise to different behaviours by individuals.”
The court found insufficient evidence to support claims of verbal insults regarding economic status or alleged immoral relationships. However, it considered the prolonged separation of 23 years and the respondent’s current unwillingness to cohabit as factors constituting grounds for divorce.
Citing recent Supreme Court precedent (Rakesh Raman Vs. Kavita, 2023), the court held that the long-term separation and sustained desertion warranted the dissolution of the marriage. No permanent alimony was ordered as both parties are employed, and their only child is now 29 years old.
For the appellant: Sri Himanshu Pandey
For the respondent: Sri Shashank Kumar
Case title: Mahendra Prasad Vs. Smt. Bindu Devi
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