Husband expecting wife to do household chores does not amount to cruelty: Delhi High Court

Leader Online Desk : When a man and a woman get married, they intend to fulfill the responsibilities of the future life with the cooperation of each other. It has also been clarified in several earlier judgments that the wife should perform domestic work, which the husband said cannot be equated with the work of a maid. A bench of Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna of the High Court observed that it does not therefore amount to cruelty for the husband to expect domestic work from the wife. The court rejected the wife's demand to get a divorce on the ground of cruelty.

The couple got married in 2007. They had a son in 2008. The husband claimed that there was a rift between the two since the beginning due to his wife's quarrelsome and abusive behavior. The wife was reluctant to do housework. Finally, he decided to live separately from his parents to keep his married life smooth. But after this, the wife went to live with her parents with her son, giving the reason that the husband was away for work. After this, they demanded an explosion. A family court granted a divorce to the wife on the grounds of cruelty to the husband. The decision was challenged by the husband in the Delhi High Court.

The Delhi High Court in its judgment in this case said that at some point in the married life, the husband assumes the financial responsibilities and the wife assumes responsibility for the household. The appellant (husband) in this case expected the respondent (wife) to do domestic work, cannot be termed as cruelty. The bench also quashed the decision under the Marriage Act, 1955, which granted divorce to the wife on grounds of cruelty by the husband.

Wife's neglect of marital responsibilities, paternity also lost…

The wife had no intention of living with her husband's parents. She often left her matrimonial home to make herself comfortable. The husband tried his best to keep her happy by arranging independent living arrangements, however, she decided to stay with her parents. Not only did she neglect her marital responsibilities, but also deprived her husband of his paternity by keeping him away from their child, the court said in its judgment.