'Unreasonable for wives to insist on living apart from elderly in-laws': Jharkhand HC
Examining oral evidence, the court found that the wife voluntarily left the matrimonial house due to her reluctance to care for her elderly in-laws. The husband's suit for judicial separation aimed to keep his wife with him, highlighting her adamant stance on living separately without reasonable cause in her parental house.
FollowThe Jharkhand High Court has emphasized the cultural practice and obligation for Indian women to serve elderly mothers-in-law or grandmothers-in-law. The court highlighted the unreasonableness of a wife insisting on living separately from such in-laws. The observations were made while partially allowing a Criminal Revision plea filed by a husband challenging an order to pay maintenance to his wife and minor son.
In this case, the wife left the matrimonial house in June 2018 and refused to return, prompting the husband to file a suit for judicial separation. The husband asserted that his wife did not want to fulfill the duty of caring for his old-aged mother and maternal grandmother and pressured him to live separately.
Examining oral evidence, the court found that the wife voluntarily left the matrimonial house due to her reluctance to care for her elderly in-laws. The husband's suit for judicial separation aimed to keep his wife with him, highlighting her adamant stance on living separately without reasonable cause in her parental house.
Referring to Supreme Court precedent in Narendra Vs. K. Meena (2016), which defined persistent efforts to separate the husband from the family as 'cruelty,' the court concluded that the wife's separate residence without reasonable cause made her ineligible for maintenance under Section 125 (4) CrPC.
The court also emphasized the wife's obligation to serve her husband's mother and maternal grandmother, discouraging unreasonable demands for separate living.
Mumbai Mira Road clashes: Police warn social media admins against sharing content
