Allahabad: The High Court states that denying sex for a long time in marriage without sufficient reason is mental cruelty. The court was hearing an appeal from a man for his divorce petition to be dismissed by a family court.
According to the high court, it was clear from the record that the parties to the marriage had been living separately for a long time, and the wife had disputed discharging the responsibility of marital liability.
According to the petitioner, his wife refused to discharge her marital obligations and then fled to her parent’s house. The spouse claimed that he tried multiple times to persuade her, but she refused to have physical contact with him. The couple divorced in July 1994 in front of a panchayat after the guy paid Rs 22,000 in alimony to his wife. She eventually married another man. The spouse then filed for divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty and desertion. However, the trial court denied the divorce based on cruelty then he filed an appeal before the Allahabad High Court.
While granting an order of divorce Justice Suneet Kumar and Justice Rajendra Kumar-IV said, “Undoubtedly, not allowing a spouse for a long time to have sexual intercourse with his or her partner, without sufficient reason, itself amounts to mental cruelty. Since there is no acceptable view in which a spouse can be compelled to resume life with the consort, nothing is given by trying to keep the parties tied forever to a marriage.”
Terming the approach taken by the family court “hyper-technical”, the bench said, “It is evident from the record that since long, the parties to the marriage have been living separately, according to plaintiff-appellant, defendant-respondent had no respect for the marital bond, denied discharging obligation of marital liability. There has been a complete breakdown of their marriage.”
