While allowing a woman’s plea for annulment of marriage to a man, Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court highlighted that in the present case the husband’s demand that his wife should resign from her government job till he gets a job and to ‘behave in the manner he wants’ amounts to the very definition of cruelty as ground for seeking divorce. Call Now For Legal Advice:-91-8877001993
Consult Verified Legal Experts
- • Court Marriage
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Mutual or Contested Divorce
Experience
- • RERA Matters
- • Legal Notice
- • Succession Issue
Experience
- • Anticipatory Bail
- • Money Recovery
- • Cheque Bounce
Experience
- • Anticipatory Bail
- • Money Recovery
- • Cheque Bounce
Experience
- • Agreements
- • Employment Matters
- • Statutory Compliances
Experience
- • Property Matter
- • Corporate Issues
- • Startup Compliances
Experience
- • Cyber Crime
- • Anticipatory Bail
- • Money Recovery
Experience
- • Audits
- • Trademark & other IP
- • Company Registration
Experience
- • Anticipatory Bail
- • Money Recovery
- • Cheque Bounce
Experience
- • Cyber Crime
- • Money Recovery
- • Cheque Bounce
Experience
- • RERA Matters
- • Consumer Protection
- • Legal Notice
Experience
- • RERA Matters
- • Case Transfer Matters
- • Legal Notice
Experience
- • Anticipatory Bail
- • Money Recovery
- • Cheque Bounce
Experience
- • Cyber Crime
- • Legal Notice
- • Succession Issue
Experience
- • Court Marriage
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Mutual or Contested Divorce
Experience
- • Cyber Fraud
- • Rape & POCSO
- • Bail Matter
Experience
- • Consumer Protection
- • Legal Notice
- • Succession Issue
Experience
- • Cyber Fraud
- • Property Matter
- • Corporate Issues
Experience
- • RERA Matters
- • Case Transfer Matters
- • Cyber Crime
Experience
- • Court Marriage
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Mutual or Contested Divorce
Experience
- • Agreements
- • Employment Matters
- • Statutory Compliances
Experience
- • Cyber Fraud
- • Rape & POCSO
- • Bail Matter
Experience
- • Cyber Fraud
- • Property Matter
- • Corporate Issues
Experience
- • Agreements
- • Employment Matters
- • Statutory Compliances
Experience
- • Insurance Matters
- • Cyber Fraud
- • Property Matter
Experience
- • Insurance Matters
- • Cyber Fraud
- • Property Matter
Experience
- • Cyber Fraud
- • Property Matter
- • Corporate Issues
Experience
- • Insurance Matters
- • Cyber Fraud
- • Rape & POCSO
Experience
- • Insurance Matters
- • Cyber Fraud
- • Corporate Issues
Experience
- • Court Marriage
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Mutual or Contested Divorce
Experience
- • Agreements
- • Employment Matters
- • Audits
Experience
- • Agreements
- • Employment Matters
- • Statutory Compliances
Experience
- • Court Marriage
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Bail Matter
Experience
- • Court Marriage
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Rape & POCSO
Experience
- • Matrimonial Disputes
- • Legal Notice
- • Succession Issue
Experience
- • Case Transfer Matters
- • Anticipatory Bail
- • Money Recovery
Experience
- • Cyber Crime
- • Money Recovery
- • Cheque Bounce
Experience
- • Insurance Matters
- • Rape & POCSO
- • Bail Matter
Experience
- • Court Marriage
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Mutual or Contested Divorce
Experience
- • Court Marriage
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Mutual or Contested Divorce
Experience
- • Rape & POCSO
- • Bail Matter
Experience
- • Agreements
- • Employment Matters
- • Statutory Compliances
Experience
- • Court Marriage
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Mutual or Contested Divorce
Experience
- • Agreements
- • Court Marriage
- • Adoption & Custody
Experience
- • Agreements
- • Employment Matters
- • RERA Matters
Experience
- • Employment Matters
- • Cyber Fraud
- • Cyber Crime
Experience
- • Employment Matters
- • Insurance Matters
- • Cyber Fraud
Experience
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Employment Matters
- • Insurance Matters
Experience
- • Bail Matter
Experience
- • Rape & POCSO
Experience
- • Insurance Matters
Experience
- • Adoption & Custody
Experience
- • Court Marriage
Experience
- • RERA Matters
- • Case Transfer Matters
- • Cyber Crime
Experience
- • Rape & POCSO
Experience
- • Insurance Matters
Experience
- • Rape & POCSO
Experience
- • Adoption & Custody
Experience
- • Property Matter
Experience
- • Property Matter
Experience
- • Adoption & Custody
Experience
- • Agreements
- • Anticipatory Bail
- • Case Transfer Matters
Experience
- • Insurance Matters
Experience
- • Employment Matters
- • Insurance Matters
- • RERA Matters
Experience
- • Court Marriage
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Legal Notice
Experience
- • Cyber Crime
- • Rape & POCSO
- • Anticipatory Bail
Experience
- • Rape & POCSO
- • Bail Matter
- • Legal Notice
Experience
- • Employment Matters
- • Company Registration
- • Legal Notice
Experience
- • Cyber Fraud
- • Cyber Crime
- • Legal Notice
Experience
- • Employment Matters
- • Insurance Matters
- • Legal Notice
Experience
- • Adoption & Custody
- • Matrimonial Disputes
- • Legal Notice
Experience
- • Anticipatory Bail
- • Audits
- • Cheque Bounce
Experience
For many years, marriage has been an institution that has always been buttressed on love, trust, and understanding between two people. On the contrary, when one partner fails to respect the other or tries to force his or her authority on the other partner, the base of the relationship starts to break.
One such problem that has come to the spotlight in the recent legal and social debates is the issue of husband forcing wife to quit job, a phenomenon that has gained recognition as torment, hence able to provide justification for divorce in various jurisdictions.
Cruelty as Ground of Divorce
- Cruelty as ground of divorce is encompassed within the ambit of Section 13 (ia) of the Act.
- Section 13(1)(ia) introduced the notion of ‘cruelty’ as a ground for divorce in the Family Courts Act.
- Before 1976, however, cruelty was ground only for seeking a divorce by judicial separation under Section 10 of the Act.
- Cruelty is a concept that cannot be dissociated from the way of life of human beings. Rather, societal layers, lifestyles, relationships, characters, and feelings, which are determined by social stratification, all play a vital role in cruelty.
- Making untrue statements to the husband and initiation of false cases against him results in immense psychological distress and pain and is therefore an extreme form of cruelty.
Why in the News?
A bench of Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari has held that making a wife quit her job is cruelty in the eyes of law. The Madhya Pradesh High Court held this in case X v. Y.
In the case of X vs Y:
- The couple tied the knot on April 19, 2014. In 2017, the Appellant was assigned the position of Assistant Manager with LIC Housing Finance Limited.
- The Respondent maintained the wife left her work and stayed with him until he found employment.
- The Respondent husband filed a petition under Section 9 of the 1955 Act after the appellant had filed for divorce.
- Subsequently Section 9 application was withdrawn.
- The Learned Trial Court refused to grant divorce to the parties in the case of husband forcing wife to quit job.
- Consequently, an appeal is filed in the High Court.
Observation by the Court
- The Court noted that it was not open to either spouse to compel the other to do or refrain from doing any work of their own choosing.
- The Court also noted that the given circumstances were such that the husband made it impossible for the wife to continue working and expect her to live only how he wants and how he intends, which is cruelty.
- In light of the above reasons, the Court permitted the dissolution of the marriage.
Forcing a wife to quit her job goes beyond marital troubles and fundamentally undermines her personhood and independence. To characterize such a practice as cruel also under the law is to take an important step in the direction of preventing marriage from being understood only as a power asymmetry. With advancement in societies, it is most essential that the legal system, the social framework and attitudes about cultural practices guard the rights of every individual in a marriage. It is only under these circumstances that the very spirit of peace in marriage and respect for persons can truly be achieved.
Sharks of Law offers a comprehensive legal solutions facility, providing an extensive collection of information on diverse areas of law and current developments in the legal field by the best professionals in this area. With this law firm, you can search and find a lawyer who can meet your legal requirements for online consultation. The attorneys at Sharks of Law have the necessary expertise across all the fields involved should you have any inquiries that require legal counsel.
Email:-helpdesk@sharksoflaw.com
Help Desk:-+91-88770-01993
Adv Vipul Singh Raghuwanshi
Legal expert and contributor at Sharks of Law. Committed to providing clear and accessible legal guidance to everyone.