Calcutta HC Grants Divorce On 'Cruelty' Basis; 7 Other Grounds Under Hindu Family Law

On March 31, a Calcutta High Court bench consisting of Justices Soumen Sen and Uday Kumar granted a man divorce from his wife on the grounds of cruelty. They were hearing the plea of the woman who challenged the decision taken by a family court in 2009. It held the same observations as the high court.

The bench cited ‘pious obligation’ and observed that if a wife compels her husband to separate from his parents, it would amount to mental cruelty. “To live and maintain the parents (was) absolutely normal in Indian culture and ethos,” the court observed.

It’s not on the Calcutta HC, but in 2016, the Supreme Court of India also called it cruel for a wife to ask her husband to separate from his parents. It noted, “One can imagine how a poor husband would get entangled in the clutches of law, which would virtually ruin his sanity, peace of mind, career and probably his entire life.”

We spoke to Advocate Nitin Yadav, the practising lawyer at the Delhi High Court, who told us that cruelty is one among eight grounds of divorce under Hindu family law. It can be classified into mental or physical torture.

In the case of a husband, cruelty amounts to humiliating him in front of his family and friends, aborting the child without consent, denying a marital relationship without valid reasoning, ill-treatment of the husband and his family, etc.

In the case of a wife, cruelty is defined as making false accusations, forcing abortion, not disclosing impotency, demanding dowry, etc.

Here are seven other grounds for divorce under the Hindu Family Law:

Adultery

A person can seek divorce in case their partner voluntarily and consensually gets involved in a sexual relationship with another person (who might be married or unmarried) while they are married.

Conversion

Under the Hindu Family Law, if a partner, without the consent of their spouse, converts to another religion, one can seek a legal separation.

Renunciation

In a case when a partner renounces the world and its pleasures without getting consent form their spouse, the aggrieved can seek divorce.

Insanity

The law defines insanity as someone of unsound mind or who is not considered liable to make decisions. If a spouse is suffering from a condition in which the mental disorder cannot be treated or cured, the partner can request separation.

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Desertion

If a partner has left their spouse without giving any reasons or seeking consent, the aggrieved party can file for divorce.

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Presumption Of Death

If a spouse does not know anything about their partner for consecutive seven years, they would presume them dead. In such a case, divorce can be sought.

Venereal Disease

Venereal disease is described as contagious. If the spouse is suffering from such an ailment, the partner can file for divorce.

There used to be a ninth ground of divorce under the Hindu family law. The ninth one was leprosy.In 1973, the Supreme Court was hearing a case in which the wife was suffering from a serious stage of leprosy. Therefore, in the Swarajya Lakshmi v G G Padma Rao case, the court accepted the request for divorce. However, in 2019, the Central Government ruled out that it would no longer be the ground for separation. It is a curable disease about which people are less aware of. It is stigmatised, and society lack empathy towards patients suffering from it.