Madhya Pradesh High Court states that making a wife quit her job and live according to her husband’s preferences is a form of cruelty.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that making a wife quit her job and live according to her husband’s preferences is considered cruelty. The Court overturned the Family Court’s decision and ended the marriage. The Family Court noted that the husband’s petition under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act was still pending, suggesting he wanted to stay with his wife, even though this petition was filed after the divorce request. The wife argued that just filing this petition should not affect her legal rights. A Division Bench, led by Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari, stated that both partners should have the freedom to choose whether to live together and that neither can force the other to quit their job based on personal preferences. In this case, the husband pressured his wife to leave her government job until he found employment, which the Court deemed as cruelty.

Advocate Raghvendra Singh Raghuvanshi represented the wife, who sought divorce on the grounds of cruelty under the HMA. She claimed her husband forced her to leave her job and insisted she stay with him until he secured a job. The wife argued that the Family Court did not recognize that if she had to live apart from her husband to protect her life and dignity from ongoing physical and mental abuse, it should not be seen as desertion. The Family Court dismissed her case, stating that minor disputes do not qualify as cruelty. However, the High Court supported the wife’s appeal for divorce, highlighting that the husband had indeed forced her to leave her job until he found work.

The Family Court did not take into account the statement from the appellant-wife. She mentioned that the respondent-husband forced her to quit her job and stay with him, which led her to file for divorce. Before that, due to compatibility issues, she had sent a notice to the respondent-husband asking for a mutual divorce. The respondent-husband did not want the divorce, which the Court considered as cruelty. Therefore, the Court decided to allow the appeal and dissolve the marriage between the appellant and respondent. The previous judgment from the Family Court dated 17.08.2022 was overturned. As a result, the High Court approved the appeal.

Cause Title: P v. N (Neutral Citation: 2024:MPHC-IND:32195)