Source – Delhi High Court

Why in News?

Recently, the Delhi High Court in the case of Sunil Juneja v. Sonia has held that a wife's insistence to live separately from husband’s family members without any justifiable reason constitutes an act of cruelty.

Background

• The parties got married in the year 2000 according to the Hindu Rites and Ceremonies.
• Two children were born from the said wedlock.
• The wife left the matrimonial home in 2003 and later came back but left again in July 2007.
• A petition was filed by the husband for divorce before the Family Court under Section 13(1) (i-b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA) which was later dismissed.
• Thereafter, an appeal was moved before the Delhi HC by the husband challenging an order passed by the Family Court.
• The HC dissolved the marriage of a couple on the grounds of cruelty and desertion under Section 13(1) (i-a) & (i-b) of the HMA.

Court’s Observations

• A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna held that wife's insistence to live separately from other family members of the husband without any justifiable reason can be termed as an act of cruelty.
• The bench further added that an acrimonious atmosphere at home cannot be a conducive environment for the parties to forge a cordial conjugal relationship. Such a prevailing atmosphere in the home on account of lack of coordination and illusive conduct of the wife over a period of time is bound to be a source of mental cruelty.

Legal Provisions

Divorce under HMA, 1955

• Section 13 of this Act deals with the provisions of divorce.
• According to Section 13(1) of the Act, any marriage, whether solemnized before or after the commencement of this Act, may be dissolved by a decree of divorce upon presentation of a petition by either the husband or the wife on the following grounds:
  • Adultery
  • Cruelty
  • Desertion
  • Conversion
  • Mental disorder
  • Venereal Disease
  • Virulent and incurable leprosy
  • Renunciation of the world
  • Presumption of death

Cruelty as a Ground for Divorce [Section 13(1) (i-a) of the HMA]

• Prior to the 1976 amendment in the HMA, cruelty was not a ground for claiming divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act.
• It was only a ground for claiming judicial separation under Section 10 of the Act.
• By the 1976 Amendment, the Cruelty was made ground for divorce.
• The word cruelty has not been defined in the HMA.
• Generally, cruelty is any behavior which causes physical or mental pain. There are two types of cruelty.
  • Physical Cruelty: Violent conduct causing pain to the spouse.
  • Mental Cruelty: Infliction with any kind of mental stress or mental agony.
• In Shobha Rani v. Madhukar Reddi (1988), the Supreme Court said that cruelty can have no fixed definition.
• In Mayadevi v. Jagdish Prasad (2007), the SC held that any kind of mental cruelty faced by either of the spouses not just the woman, but men as well can apply for a divorce on grounds of cruelty.

Desertion as a Ground for Divorce [Section 13(1) (i-b) of the HMA]

• By the amendment of 1976, desertion was included as a ground for divorce under Section 13 (1) (i-b) of HMA.
• Before 1976, desertion was only the ground for judicial separation but now it is a ground for both divorce and judicial separation.
• Section 13(1) (i-b) of HMA deals with desertion as a ground for divorce and states that a marriage 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 has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition.
• The expression desertion means the desertion of the petitioner by the other party to the marriage without reasonable cause and without the consent of or against the wish of such party and includes the willful neglect of the petitioner by the other party to the marriage, and its grammatical variations and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.
• For establishing desertion as a ground for divorce, the following essential requirements must be met:
  • Desertion must be voluntary.
  • Desertion must be without reasonable cause.
  • It must be continuous and unjustified.
  • Desertion must be deliberate and willful.
• Desertion can be terminated in two ways - by mutual consent or by resumption of cohabitation.