Aayushi Srivastava –
Published On: November 08, 2021 at 11:00 IST
A Delhi High Court Bench headed by Justice Vipin Sanghi and comprising Justice Jasmeet Singh granted Divorce based on the husband’s Mental Cruelty, observing that he viewed his wife as a “Cash cow” and only became interested in her once she secured a job with the Delhi Police.
“The Respondent, it appears, viewed the Appellant as a cash cow and became interested in her only after she got the job with the Delhi Police. Such brazenly materialistic attitude of the Respondent, with no emotional ties, would have in itself caused mental agony and trauma to the Appellant is sufficient to constitute cruelty to her,” the Court observed.
The Court overturned a Family Court Order that had rejected the wife’s Divorce Petition. The Parties’ Marriage was Dissolved under the Hindu Marriage Act.
Both parties came from low-income families, and the marriage took place when the husband was 19 and the wife was 13 years old. When the wife attained Majority in 2005, she was not transferred to her matrimonial home. Only after she secured a job with the Delhi Police in November 2014 was, she taken to her matrimonial home.
She filed for Divorce because her husband was unemployed, an alcoholic, and used to physically abuse her and demand money. The Husband opposed the Divorce because he allegedly, paid for her schooling, which had led to her getting the job.
However, the Court observed that the wife lived with her parents until 2014 and it was “Clear that all of her living and rearing expenditures would have been borne by her parents,” and there was no proof to the contrary.
“The continued distance between the parties even after the Appellant (wife) attained majority would, in itself, have caused trauma and resulted in cruelty to the Appellant apart from everything else… (the) circumstance probabalises the stand of the Appellant, that the Respondent (husband) harassed the Appellant to pocket her income, since he was himself unemployed,” the Court stated.
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