Punjab and Haryana HC Upholds Divorce Over Wife’s Refusal to Stay with In-Laws
In January 2023, the Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld a couple’s divorce after the wife insisted that her husband separate from his parents. The husband provided evidence that his wife repeatedly harassed him to move away from his family and establish his clinic in Jalandhar, near her parents’ home. When he refused, she left him.
Despite the separation, the husband visited his wife after their child’s birth, bringing gifts and requesting her return. However, her parents demanded a separate residence for their daughter and grandchild. This ongoing conflict led to a petition for divorce.
A division bench of Justices Ritu Bahri and Manisha Batra noted that the wife had falsely implicated her husband and his family in a criminal case, from which they were later acquitted. The court also dismissed the wife’s appeal against an October 2015 family court decision in Jalandhar that had granted the husband’s divorce petition.
The couple, married in November 1990 according to Hindu rites, faced issues soon after. The wife refused to live in a joint family or allow her husband to practice medicine in his home village in Himachal Pradesh. In January 1992, she left her husband while pregnant and gave birth in her parents’ village in Jalandhar. Despite attempts by the husband and his family to reconcile, her parents insisted on a separate home for her.
After reviewing both sides, the court found the marriage had broken down irretrievably with no chance of reconciliation. The court noted that the wife’s application under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, was dismissed due to her non-appearance.
Upholding the family court’s divorce decision, the High Court ordered the husband to pay Rs 15 lakh as permanent alimony to his ex-wife. The bench emphasized that the primary purpose of marriage is companionship, and living apart for a long time indicates an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.
Thus, the court confirmed the divorce, underscoring the importance of mutual companionship in marriage.
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