Not offering water to husband cannot be termed cruelty: Bombay HC dismisses divorce plea

Bombay High Court has recently dismissed a plea of a 52-year-old man seeking a divorce from his wife on the grounds that she treated him cruelly.

The man, a bank employee levelled allegations against his wife that she would not look after his needs or offer him water when he returned home late from work.

The Court stated that not taking care of a husband’s needs or failing to even offer him water when he returns home does not amount to cruelty further pointing out that woman herself was employed as a teacher. 

The division bench of Justice Kamalkishor Tated and Justice Sarang Kotwal said that the woman was cooking in morning and evening in addition to attending her job and doing other household work.

The couple who married in 2005, had been living in their matrimonial home with the man’s parents. The man in his divorce plea claimed that his wife comes home late from work and picked up quarrels with his aged parents. He even went on to allege that her cooking was not good and she would constantly insist that his parents be driven away from the matrimonial home. 

After perusing the evidence, the High Court pointed out that both the man and his wife worked during the day which left very less room for friction between the woman and her in-laws or for him to have witnessed any fights.

The man even cited a non-cognisable complaint he had filed against his wife a few months before his divorce plea accusing her of scratching and twisting his fingers. Responding to this, the Court said that this was done only to prepare the ground for filing a petition for divorce.