top of page

Delhi High Court: Husband’s Cohabitation after Separation is not Cruelty

Authored by - Riya Sharma (Intern at Legal Soch Foundation)


Meta description - This is a recent landmark Judgement which was ruled by the division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna. They highlighted the changing terrain of family law in India and the obstacles created out of cruelty as a ground for divorce.


Keywords - Cruelty, Relationship, Divorce, Allegations, Credibility



It was ruled by the Delhi High Court that a husband can live with another woman after his separation from his wife as it will not be considered as an act of cruelty when there is no chance of reconciliation taking Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 into consideration.


The fact involves a couple who got married on December 3, 2003 but soon it led to marital disturbances and they got separated in the year, 2005. Even it was alleged by the wife that she had been subjected to harassment for dowry, physical abuse and cruelty. She also asserted that her husband got married to another woman with whom he had two sons even when the divorce petition was pending.


The main issue before the High Court of Delhi was, whether husband is disqualified from seeking a divorce because of his relationship with another woman with whom he is having two children during the proceedings of the divorce.

In its judgement it was found that it is not subjected to cruelty because there is a long separation gap between the two partners and there wasn't any possibility of reunion. The man might have got a comfort zone in his new relationship, which cannot be used as a ground for denying him a divorce.


The court also highlighted the inability of the wife because she was unable to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate her allegations on her husband for cruelty, dowry harassment and physical abuse. This weakened the case from the wife's side.


Court gave a Judgement safeguarding the interest of all the parties through a balanced approach. It also highlights the point that when any information regarding cruelty is being provided and presented before the court, it should have at least some sense of credibility because divorce decisions are purely based upon sound legal principles.






Daily News Group -

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page