Tanisha Rana
Published on: September 1, 2022 at 22:06 IST
In a decision rejecting a divorce, the Kerala High Court condemned the careless and self-centered way in which the younger generation views marriages.
According to Justices A Muhamed Mustaque and Sophy Thomas of the Division Bench, the growth in live-in relationships and the rising number of divorces caused by extramarital affairs may be related to consumer culture.
“Kerala, known as God’s own Country, was once famous for its well-knit family bondage. But the present trend it seems to break the nuptial tie on flimsy or selfish reasons, or for extra-marital relationships, even unmindful of their children.”
“The wails and screams coming out of disturbed and destroyed families are liable to shake the conscience of the society as a whole.”
“When warring couples, deserted children and desperate divorcees occupy the majority of our population, no doubt it will adversely affect the tranquillity of our social life, and our society will have a stunted growth,” the judgment said.
The Court noted in the opinion written by Justice Thomas that marriage was formerly seen as sacred and served as the cornerstone of solid family structures, which in turn aided in the development of a strong society.
Relevantly, the Court ruled that spouses cannot end a marriage by requesting the help of a court to get a divorce judgement and then proceed to legalise their extramarital affairs.
“Courts cannot come to the aid of an erring person to legalise his activities, which are per se illegal. If the husband having unholy alliance with another woman wants to avoid his lawfully wedded wife and his three little children, he cannot seek the assistance of a court of law to get his present relationship legalised by dissolving his lawful marriage, without any valid reasons for the same,” the judgment said.
The Court was contemplating an appeal filed by a man against a family court’s decision to deny his request for a divorce in accordance with Section 10(1)(x) of the Divorce Act, 1869.
In the appellant husband’s situation, he wed the respondent-wife in 2009, and the two of them had three daughters. But thereafter, his wife apparently started acting strangely and constantly starting fights with him without cause, accusing him of having an extramarital affair. He claimed that she was abusive to him physically and mentally and neglected to carry out her marital responsibilities.
In response to these allegations, the respondent-wife claimed that the husband was fabricating justifications in order to separate from her and their children and continue the extramarital affair that had started somewhere around 2017. She stated that the extramarital romance was known to the husband’s own mother and other close family members.
The Court concluded that the wife’s claim appeared to be accurate based on the testimony of several witnesses. Additionally, it was mentioned that the husband had no reluctance to call into doubt the truthfulness of his own elderly mother, who was aiding the respondent.
It further asserted that the wife’s response to the affair was typical human behaviour and would not prove any instances of harsh or aberrant behaviour on her side.
The Court ruled that simple arguments, normal wear and tear in marriages, or sporadic emotional outbursts cannot be considered as cruelty necessitating a divorce.
The Court ruled that the appellant is not entitled to obtain a divorce decree on the basis of matrimonial cruelty because the wife was still open to reconciling with the husband and because he had not proven any act of cruelty that would have led him to believe that staying married would be detrimental to him.
“If the appellant is ready to come back to his wife and children, they are ready to accept him, and there is nothing to show that the chances of an amicable reunion is foreclosed forever. So the finding of the Family Court, Alappuzha, that the appellant is not entitled for a decree of divorce on the ground of matrimonial cruelties is liable to be upheld,” the judgment said.