Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court has delivered a significant ruling, clarifying that a wife’s failure to care for her in-laws does not constitute cruelty when the husband chooses to live separately from his parents.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Saumitra Dayal Singh and Donadi Ramesh dismissed an appeal filed by the husband against the rejection of his divorce petition by the Principal Judge, Family Court, Moradabad.
The court noted that the appellant-husband had sought divorce on the grounds of cruelty, alleging that the respondent-wife had refused to fulfill her moral duty to care for his aged parents.
Rejecting the husband’s arguments, the court held, “Mere failure to care for aged parents of a spouse, particularly when the spouse has chosen to live away from his matrimonial home, may never amount to cruelty.”
The court further observed that the allegation of a daughter-in-law failing to adequately care for her in-laws is subjective. It stated, “What level of care was necessary, required, or desirable was never established by the appellant. In any case, no inhuman or cruel behavior was ever pleaded by the appellant that could have established the allegation of cruelty necessary for the dissolution of marriage.”
Expressing its view on the concept of cruelty in matrimonial matters, the court noted, “Cruelty, though available as a ground for dissolution of marriage, cannot be established through a straightjacket formula.”
The court, while referring to several Supreme Court judgments on cruelty, elaborated on the concept of cruelty in matrimonial law. It emphasized that cruelty must be of such a nature as to cause reasonable apprehension in the mind of the petitioner that it would be harmful or injurious to live with the respondent.
In conclusion, while dismissing the husband’s appeal, the court clarified that a wife’s failure to care for in-laws does not constitute cruelty, especially when the husband chooses to live separately from his parents. The court upheld the family court’s decision to reject the divorce petition.
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