Wife's Academic, Career Priorities Can't Be Deemed Cruelty Under Matrimonial Law: Madras HC

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Last Updated:May 27, 2025, 03:00 IST

The tribunal highlighted that the antheral was not acceptable to sacrifice his career, and wanted his woman to travel and unrecorded with him but she wanted to absorption connected her academics and career

The Madras HC made this reflection portion deciding a man's entreaty challenging the household court's rejection of his divorcement petition. (Image for representation: Getty)

The Madras High Court precocious held that a wife’s determination to prosecute higher acquisition abroad, adjacent if she fails to pass her hubby oregon his family, does not by itself magnitude to “cruelty" nether matrimonial law.

The seat of Justices J Nisha Banu and R Sakthivel made this reflection portion deciding a man’s entreaty challenging the household court’s rejection of his divorcement petition.

The antheral had sought dissolution of matrimony nether Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, claiming that his wife’s behaviour – particularly her determination to survey successful the United States without his consent – amounted to intelligence cruelty.

The tribunal highlighted that the antheral was not acceptable to sacrifice his career, and wanted his woman to travel and unrecorded with him but she wanted to absorption connected her academics and career.

“Since some are arsenic qualified and educated and pursuing their careers arsenic they desire, this tribunal cannot find responsibility with the enactment of the responsive successful prioritising her academics oregon career," it observed.

The mates joined successful July 2014 and lived concisely unneurotic successful Hyderabad and Puducherry. Disputes arose wrong a year, and the pistillate yet moved to the US successful 2016 for higher studies.

The antheral alleged that she did not pass him of her plans and deliberately abandoned the marriage. He besides accused her of verbal abuse, showing indifference, and refusing to relocate to Canada wherever helium aboriginal took up employment.

The woman, however, contested the allegations claiming that she had informed her hubby and his household astir her plans and that her determination to survey overseas was a vocation move, not a marital abandonment. She insisted that she remained unfastened to reconciliation, provided she was assured of a respectful and harmless marital environment.

On the constituent of desertion, the precocious tribunal noted that the pistillate had lone gone to the US for her higher studies and, undisputedly, had conveyed the aforesaid to her hubby successful August 2016 via Skype and that his household members were besides duly informed by her parents.

“Even portion assuming that she failed to pass the petitioner and his family, that unsocial cannot beryllium termed arsenic cruelty considering the facts and circumstances of this case," the tribunal held.

The household tribunal had, successful 2020, dismissed the man’s divorcement petition, holding that the grounds did not enactment his claims of cruelty. The tribunal besides observed that insignificant marital quarrels were communal and did not magnitude to cruelty nether the law.

Challenging this decision, helium filed a civilian miscellaneous entreaty earlier the precocious tribunal arguing that the proceedings tribunal had overlooked important facts, including his wife’s refusal to articulation him successful Canada and her continued lack from the marital relationship.

On the contented of carnal altercation, the precocious tribunal noted that the scuffle betwixt the mates was a insignificant 1 successful the archetypal twelvemonth of the marriage, which some parties condoned, and therefore, it could lone beryllium considered arsenic mean deterioration and teardrop successful a marriage.

“Such insignificant scuffles, though not desirable and appropriate, bash not magnitude to cruelty," the tribunal observed.

The court, however, noted that the mates had lived isolated for astir 9 years and each attempts astatine reconciliation had failed. It stressed that portion idiosyncratic vocation choices and disagreements unsocial whitethorn not magnitude to ineligible cruelty, the long-standing separation and nonaccomplishment of each efforts astatine mediation demonstrated that the matrimony had irretrievably breached down.

The tribunal observed that determination was nary anticipation of reunion betwixt the couple. Accordingly, it allowed the man’s entreaty and dissolved the marriage.

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