The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld a divorce granted to a man after finding that his wife refused to live with his 75-year-old mother and his sister, who suffers from mental illness.
A Division Bench dismissed the woman’s appeal against a 2019 decision of a family court in Palwal, Haryana, which had allowed the husband’s divorce petition under the Hindu Marriage Act. The couple married in 1999, but in 2016, the husband filed for divorce, and since then, the wife and their two daughters have lived separately.
The Court noted that the wife insisted her husband should leave his elderly mother and mentally ill sister to live with her, calling this an “act of cruelty” in light of Supreme Court precedents. It also observed that she had joined the Brahma Kumaris spiritual organisation, which promotes celibacy, indicating a lack of interest in marital relations.
Citing the Supreme Court’s Samar Ghosh ruling, the Bench said that a unilateral refusal to engage in marital intimacy without valid reason can amount to mental cruelty. The Court further held that the couple’s relationship was “emotionally dead” and beyond repair, and forcing them to stay together would only cause further stress and cruelty.
While the divorce was upheld, the Court noted the family court had not granted alimony. It clarified that under Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, a wife can seek permanent alimony even after a divorce decree. It ordered the husband to pay ₹5 lakh as interim permanent alimony within three months, leaving the option open for the wife to seek more later.
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