Source: Chhattisgarh High Court

Why in the News?

The Chhattisgarh High Court (HC) has held that a wife should not be regarded as property or forced to live under conditions dictated by her husband in the matter of Kalyani Bai v. Tejnath.

What is the Background of Kalyani Bai v. Tejnath Case?

• The parties got married in 2008 and the couple had a baby girl in 2009.
• The couple lived at the matrimonial house situated at village Barduli for about 6 months after performing ‘gouna’.
• It was alleged by the husband that initially, that the wife did not like the marriage as it was performed in the rural area, she went to Raipur thereafter to complete a B.Ed. Course.
• After the completion of the course when he went there to take her back, she refused to accompany him and stated that she would reside at her maternal house.
• The husband then sought a divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA) and the same was allowed by the Family Court.
• In appeal the wife contended that she was always willing to reside with the husband, but he never wanted to keep her with him and wanted her to reside separately at Village Barduli.
  • She also stated that she used to resist husband’s demand to live in his village from the very beginning.
  • The husband submitted that his wife was habitual of making false allegations and she had also made a police complaint against him for the offence under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC).

What were the Court’s Observations?

• Justices Goutam Bhaduri and Deepak Kumar Tiwari held that it was the husband who had been insisting that his wife should stay in the husband's village and did not give due importance to her demand of living together.
• Highlighting the importance of wife’s autonomy and dignity within the matrimonial home, the HC rejected the contention of desertion and cruelty made by the husband against his wife.

What is Desertion?

Desertion refers to the act of withdrawing from the company of a spouse or withdrawal from marital obligations without any reasonable cause. The following are the prerequisites:

• Factum of separation of one spouse from other.
• Animus deserendi, i.e., intention to desert permanently.
• The deserted spouse must not have agreed to the desertion.
• The desertion must be without reasonable cause.
• For at least two years, this situation must have continued.
• The provision of desertion is provided under Section 13 (1) (ib) of HMA.
• Section 13 - Divorce — (1) Any marriage solemnized, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, may, on a petition presented by either the husband or the wife, be dissolved by a decree of divorce on the ground that the other party
  • (ib) has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition.
• In Bipin Chandra v. Prabhawati (1957), the Supreme Court ruled that where wife leaves the marital home without a reason, she would not be considered to have deserted if she later indicated a desire to return but was forcibly stopped from doing so by the husband.