Jharkhand High Court rejects SSB personnel’s divorce plea: ‘Wife living separately not desertion’

“Mere separate residence by the wife would not amount to desertion,” the bench noted, adding, “In case the wife proves that there was reasonable cause or justifiable reason to leave the company of the husband, then it cannot be said that she has deserted the husband.”

Husband filed divorce plea

The couple got married on June 11, 2016, and their marriage was registered under the Special Marriage Act, 1954. The wife went to her husband’s parental home, where they lived together. They had a son who was born on February 19, 2017.

Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Pradeep Kumar Srivastava said the husband failed to establish the allegation that his wife had treated him cruelly.

According to the husband, the wife left the matrimonial home in August 2017, while he was posted with the SSB in Jammu and Kashmir, and did not return after that despite his requests.

Appearing for the husband, advocate Birendra Kumar alleged that the wife had deserted him and subjected him to cruelty. On this basis, he filed a divorce petition, citing desertion and cruelty.

The wife disputed this version. Her counsel, advocate Saibal Kumar Laik submitted that after marriage, the husband left her at her parental home and later failed to take her back. She had filed a maintenance case in 2018, in which the family court directed the husband to pay Rs 10,000 per month towards maintenance.

It was further stated that in September 2019, the husband took her and their son back after giving an undertaking before the court that he would keep them with dignity, but left for duty the next day. She maintained that she was willing to live with her husband.

The family court dismissed the husband’s divorce suit in August 2023. He then challenged that decision before the high court.

Made bald statement: Order

The high court observed that the man failed to establish his allegation that his wife had treated him cruelly. “In the testimony of the husband, he has only made a bald statement that the wife had committed cruelty towards him, but not a single occasion has been cited either in the testimony of appellant or other witnesses produced on his behalf,” it said.

On desertion, the court noted that simply living separately does not amount to desertion. The husband has to prove that the wife left him without reasonable cause, without his consent and with the intention of permanently ending cohabitation.

The high court found that the wife had consistently expressed her willingness to live with him. Even during the court proceedings, her counsel stated that she remained ready to resume their conjugal life, despite mediation having failed.

The bench reiterated that mere quarrels, trivial irritations, coldness or normal wear and tear of married life are insufficient. Mental cruelty must involve conduct sufficiently grave and sustained to make continuation of the matrimonial relationship unreasonable.

The court emphasised that desertion requires both separation and an intention to permanently end cohabitation. The spouse who has left the matrimonial home is not automatically the deserting spouse.