The Delhi High Court recently granted a man a divorce, citing cruelty caused by his wife’s undue parental influence. This influence disrupted their marriage and prevented the couple from establishing a strong marital bond.
The court’s decision came after the husband appealed a previous family court ruling that denied his divorce request. The High Court observed that the couple had been living apart for around 13 years, during which the husband was deprived of conjugal relations and faced numerous complaints filed by his wife, which amounted to acts of cruelty.
Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, heading the bench, found substantial evidence of “unwarranted interference” by the wife’s parents and family members in the couple’s married life, causing significant distress to the husband.
The court noted, “The evidence shows unwarranted interference from the wife’s parents and family, as the husband asserted.”
The court emphasized that the wife’s inability to detach from her parental influence and build a relationship with her husband constituted mental cruelty. Highlighting the importance of conjugal relations in marriage, the court stated that continuing a “dead relationship” only perpetuates further cruelty for both parties. False complaints filed against the husband and his family were also considered acts of mental cruelty.
Further, the court underscored that the foundation of any marriage is cohabitation and conjugal relations. The lack of conjugal companionship, along with the wife’s reluctance to resume the marital relationship, was deemed an act of extreme cruelty.
The court referenced the case of Samar Ghosh v. Jaya Ghosh (2007
