Calling husband 'black complexioned' or ‘fatty shaped’ no reason for divorce: Chhattisgarh High Court

 The Chhattisgarh High Court ruled that a wife calling her husband “black complexioned” or “fatty shaped” does not by itself constitute grounds for divorce, while upholding the order directing him to return her stridhan.

The Chhattisgarh High Court has ruled that a woman calling her husband “black complexioned” or “fatty shaped” is not grounds for granting divorce. The Court noted that mere allegations, without any evidence substantiating them, cannot be the basis for granting divorce. 

The court, in its September 18, 2026 judgment, upheld the family court’s order directing the husband to return his wife’s stridhan. The ruling came while hearing an appeal filed by the man against the family court’s August 2024 order, which had rejected his divorce petition and instructed him to return the gifts given by his wife’s parents within one month.  

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According to the court order, the couple married on 7 March 2019. The husband alleged that his wife treated him with hostility, threatened to implicate him in false cases, and frequently returned to her parental home. He further claimed that after coming back from Rajasthan she deserted him and refused to resume cohabitation despite his efforts to bring her back.

He also pointed out that she had been living separately since December 2019 and had filed proceedings against him and his family under the Domestic Violence Act.

The wife rejected these claims. She alleged that her husband was involved in an extramarital affair, had begun drinking heavily and abusing her, neglected her during pregnancy, and that her mother had taken her to Raigarh for medical treatment when she fell ill.

The family court had earlier dismissed the husband’s claims of cruelty and desertion, refusing to grant him a divorce. It also allowed the wife’s application under Section 27 of the Hindu Marriage Act and ordered the husband to return the stridhan given by her parents.

A division bench of Justice Parth Prateem Sahu and Justice Sachin Singh Rajput reviewed the evidence and concluded that the husband had failed to prove either cruelty or desertion by the wife.

The court noted the wife’s statement that she had travelled to Rajasthan with her husband, mother-in-law and mother to attend a relative’s wedding. 

It further observed that when she fell ill, her husband first took her for treatment before her mother later took her to Raigarh. The bench held that the husband’s allegations were not backed by adequate evidence.

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