‘Will not serve any purpose at this age’: Telangana High Court refuses to dissolve couple’s 34-year marriage

The legal battle began in 2008 when the husband, a civil engineer, filed a petition seeking the dissolution of his 1991 marriage. He alleged continuous cruelty from his wife. The husband contended that his wife constantly suspected his character, questioned him about “with which woman he slept” when he worked late at a site, and once assaulted him with a flower vase, resulting in a bleeding injury that required hospitalisation.

The husband further testified that the wife had filed a criminal case against him under section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, though this case ultimately resulted in his acquittal. Additionally, the wife was found to have offered the husband’s plot of land to a third party without his knowledge, leading to successful litigation by the husband.

The wife countered these claims, alleging the husband had “illegal contact with another lady”. She claimed that her husband had always harassed her for money and that she had tolerated everything with great patience, keeping the welfare of their children in mind. While the family court initially granted only a judicial separation in 2012, both parties escalated the matter to the high court with cross-appeals in the same year.

The high court delivered its final verdict after years of litigation, including attempts by the court to mediate a settlement that proved “not fruitful”. It noted that the husband’s whereabouts were not known to his counsel and that the wife, too, was not in a position to inform the court about them.

Justice Lakshman noted the current ages of the couple (the husband is 56 and the wife is 52) and the fact that their two children are now adults, aged 33 and 28.

The court ruled that continuing the proceedings was futile. “In the light of the aforesaid discussion, dissolving the marriage of the parties will not serve any purpose at this age,” its judgment stated.

Citing the advanced age of the couple and the decades passed since their marriage, the high court ordered the dismissal of both appeals, thereby also setting aside the original judicial separation decree and dismissing the husband’s petition for divorce.