Recently, Chhattisgarh HC stated that, if the husband expects the wife to stay at a place other than his company without any sufficient cause and the wife opposes it, then it can’t be termed as cruelty by wife.

The bench of Justices Goutam Bhaduri and Radhakishan Agrawal was dealing with the appeal challenging the judgement and decree passed by the Family Court whereby a petition filed by the husband seeking divorce on the ground of cruelty was dismissed.

In this case, after the marriage the wife joined the company of husband. It was pleaded by the husband that since he was posted to perform his duty in the Naxalite affected areas, he had to stay at the station of posting wherein the family members were not allowed to be taken with them.

As a result, while he was discharging his duty in naxalite-prone area he could not take his wife with him, which enraged the wife. Out of the trivial issue, the wife started behaving improperly with the family members which turned into cruelty to the aged mother.

The bench opined that “the husband insisted the wife to stay at his mother’s place even if he was posted in city. It is obvious that if the wife insists to stay with the husband and without any extraneous reason or official cause, if husband refuses to keep her it cannot be said to be a cruelty by the wife towards the husband for such insistence.”

High Court stated that “During the matrimonial ties the reciprocal respect and regard to each other and the company is necessary. In absence thereof any forceful imposition of condition by either side may lead to a matrimonial disruption. So if the husband expects the wife to stay at a place other than his company without any sufficient cause it cannot be stated that because of resistance by the wife to stay apart-it would be cruelty by the wife.”

In view of the above, the bench rejected the appeal of the husband.

Case Title: Sukhdev Sahu v. Smt. Gauri Sahu