Kerala High Court: Wife’s Inability to Cook or Seeking Employer’s Help Not Cruelty
The Kerala High Court has ruled that a wife’s inability to cook or her attempt to involve her husband’s employer to mend their strained marriage cannot be considered cruelty under divorce laws. The Court made these observations while dismissing a husband’s plea for divorce and upholding the wife’s request for restitution of conjugal rights.
Background of the Case
The husband argued that his marriage was practically and emotionally dead since they had been living separately for over a decade. He accused his wife of ill-treating him in front of his relatives, making defamatory complaints to his employer, and filing cases against him in the Vanitha Cell and Magistrate Court. He sought a divorce based on cruelty.
The wife, however, denied the allegations and clarified that she wrote to his employer only out of concern for his behavior. She stated that she had been living separately since 2013 because he refused to let her stay in their matrimonial home.
Court’s Observations
The Court noted that:
- The email sent to the employer was not meant to harm the husband’s job but was a desperate attempt by the wife to reconcile.
- The husband himself admitted to consulting psychiatrists, which supported the wife’s claim that she was concerned about his behavioral changes.
- Filing legal complaints for shelter and maintenance is a right, and it does not constitute cruelty.
- The wife’s inability to cook is not a valid ground for cruelty.
Final Ruling
The Court ruled that minor disagreements or lifestyle differences are not sufficient grounds for divorce under cruelty claims. Dismissing the husband’s appeal, the Court upheld the wife’s request for restitution of conjugal rights, reinforcing that legal grounds must justify divorce.
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