Wife's partying not mental cruelty, says Bombay HC
Shibu Thomas
Mumbai:
The Bombay high court has ruled that a family court was wrong in granting divorce to a man who had claimed that his wife partied a lot and misbehaved and that this constituted cruelty. Justice M L Tahaliyani pointed to the fact that social mores and traditional roles were changing and upheld an appellate court's order overturning the divorce verdict.
Rajesh Chawla, 42, a mariner, claimed that his wife Seema, with whom he has two children, frequently attended latenight parties, misbehaved with him often, had outbursts on small issues and generally made his life miserable.
“Socializing to some extent in the present society is permissible,“ said Justice Tahaliyani, adding, “But there is no evidence to come to the conclusion that on a particular date Seema was drunk or had excess liquor and had come to the house at a particular time.“
The Bomaby high court also noted that it had come on record that Rajesh too had attended parties and had on one occasion he had brought home a woman friend who was too drunk to return to her home.“This indicates that (the) life of Rajesh and Seema was not a normal life of (a) conservative married couple. Both appeared to be in the nature of socializing and were in (the) habit of enjoying parties. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that Seema had subjected Rajesh to cruelty, either physical or mental,“ the court said.
