Calcutta High Court grants divorce decree to husband for 'Imposition' of wife's friend, family on him

Calcutta High Court grants divorce decree to husband on grounds of cruelty, including imposition of wife's friend and family.

The Calcutta High Court has granted a divorce decree to a husband on the grounds of cruelty, which includes "imposition" of the wife’s friend and family on him and lodging of a false case of matrimonial cruelty by her.

The Division Bench presided by Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya set aside the Judgement of the Trial Court that refused a divorce decree in favour of the husband, terming it as perverse and erroneous.

It said in its Judgment delivered on December 19 that a sufficiently strong case of mental cruelty has been made out by the appellant (husband) against the respondent (wife) to justify the grant of divorce on such grounds.

The Bench, also comprising Justice Uday Kumar, granted the divorce decree to the husband on the grounds of cruelty, thereby severing the marriage between the two.

It noted that the continued presence of the woman friend and others of the wife’s family at the official residential quarters of the husband at Kolaghat in East Midnapore district despite his objection and discomfort on such count is borne out by the records.

"Such imposition of friend and family of the respondent on the husband at his quarter against his will, sometimes even when the respondent-wife herself was not there, over a continuous period of time, can definitely be constituted as cruelty since it might very well have made life impossible for the appellant, which would come within the broader purview of cruelty," the Bench observed.

It said the wife, in the present case, unilaterally took a decision of refusal to have conjugal life with the husband for a considerable period, and there is admittedly a long period of continuous separation, unerringly indicating that the matrimonial bond has gone beyond repair.