Wife calling husband dark, fat is not cruelty: High Court junks divorce plea

The court said the husband could not prove that his wife had deserted him without reasonable cause or that her conduct amounted to cruelty warranting dissolution of the marriage.

In Short

• Chhattisgarh High Court dismissed 28-year-old man's divorce appeal
• Court says husband's claims of cruelty and desertion were unproven
• Court rejects husband's complaint of wife calling him dark and fat

A woman calling her husband dark-complexioned and fat was not sufficient grounds for granting a divorce, the Chhattisgarh High Court observed while dismissing a man's appeal seeking dissolution of his marriage.

While the man accused his wife of leaving their home, deserting him and treating him with hostility, the woman alleged that her husband was involved in an illicit relationship and had taken to alcoholism.

A division bench of Justice Parth Prateem Sahu and Justice Sachin Singh Rajput refused to interfere with the Family Court's order rejecting the man's divorce plea. The Family Court had also allowed his wife's application seeking the return of her 'streedhan', the gifts and assets given to her by her parents.

The 28-year-old man, Aksh Ghosh, had challenged the Family Court's August 2024 judgment, which rejected his plea for divorce and directed him to return, within one month, the gifts given to his wife by her parents.

Ghosh and Pooja Seet, 25, got married in 2019. According to Ghosh, his wife lived with him and his family for around two to three months after their marriage.

Ghosh alleged that during this period, his wife treated him with hostility, threatened to implicate him in false cases and frequently left for her parental home. He also alleged that she travelled to Rajasthan to attend a relative's wedding without his consent and returned after around 25 days.

He further stated that his wife later suffered a miscarriage of twins.

According to the husband, her mother subsequently took her to Raigarh. Despite repeated efforts to bring her back, he alleged that she refused to return.

The woman, however, denied the allegations.

She alleged that her husband was in an illicit relationship with another woman and began consuming alcohol after she discovered the alleged relationship.

She further alleged that her husband abused her and failed to properly care for her, including by not providing adequate medical treatment during her pregnancy.

According to the woman, when she fell ill, her mother took her to a hospital in Raigarh for treatment.

After recovering, she claimed that she repeatedly asked her husband and his family members to take her back, but they did not do so.

Her mother subsequently filed a police complaint in February 2020.

The woman also initiated proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act against her husband and his family members before the Judicial Magistrate First Class in Raigarh, according to the High Court order.

She claimed that her husband was himself unwilling to continue the matrimonial relationship because of his alleged relationship with another woman and sought dismissal of his divorce petition.

After examining the evidence, the High Court held that the husband had failed to establish cruelty or desertion by his wife warranting dissolution of the marriage.

"Though the appellant/husband has made several allegations against the respondent/wife yet none of them have been substantiated by leading any cogent evidence," the High Court said.

The court specifically considered the husband's allegation that his wife used to describe him as dark-complexioned and fat.

"The man has alleged that his wife used to brand him as being a black complexioned or fatty-shaped but they cannot be taken to be sufficient grounds for granting a decree of divorce to him," the court said.

The High Court also held that the husband had failed to establish that his wife was living with her parents without reasonable cause. It further found that he had failed to prove the requisite intention on her part to desert him.

The court said the Family Court had properly appreciated the evidence and found no reason to interfere with its judgment.

It accordingly dismissed the appeal and upheld the Family Court's order rejecting the divorce plea. The direction requiring Ghosh to return the gifts and assets given to his wife by her parents was also left undisturbed.

The appeal was dismissed without any order as to costs.

- Ends