Wife Staying Abroad For Career Is Not ‘Cruelty’ To Husband Or ‘Desertion Of Spouse’, Says Bombay HC
Recently, the Bombay High Court was presented with an interesting case. Two engineers had fallen in love, courted each other for 8 long years and then got married in 2004. They both worked in Canada, but for some reason had to return to India. However, the wife wanted to, and did, return to Canada for better job prospects. So now, the husband had applied for a divorce, alleging cruelty and desertion after his wife refused to come back to India. Tricky, isn’t it? Well, the Bombay HC looked at the evidence and proof presented by the husband and refused to grant him a divorce.
A timeline of events
In 2003, the husband had migrated to Canada looking for better prospects. His wife followed soon after on a spousal visa. In 2009, when the husband met with an accident, the wife took care of him and nursed him back to health. In the year after, they had their first child. But it was in the same year that the husband lost his job due to recession, started suffering from skin allergies and back pain, due to which they decided to move back to India.
A month after returning, the husband claimed in the court that the wife left for her parent’s home wanting to return to Canada with her son. And according to him, the wife did eventually do that. The husband also stated that he had started job hunting in India by then in the hopes that his wife would return. But she didn’t return. So he went to the court for restitution of conjugal rights and then eventually filed for a divorce instead. He filed for divorce after his wife failed to appear in front of the court during the earlier proceedings.
Why Bombay HC refused to grant the divorce on grounds of cruelty and desertion of spouse?
This decision was taken by the court, led by Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Prithviraj Chavan, after looking at the woman’s resume and proof which indicated that her career with a pharmaceutical company in Canada was flourishing. In fact, the court even suggested the husband that he settle in Canada with his wife since it was his idea from the beginning to move there for better prospects.
The court in support of the woman also observed that her settling there along with her son is not “unjustified” or “selfish.” They also dismissed the husband’s statement that said he could not join his wife in Canada due to his ill health since he wasn’t able to provide any medical certificates to back his statement.
In their concluding remarks, the bench observed that the relationship hadn’t become so worse that the husband and wife couldn’t unite again. “We hope that there is still scope for the couple to restore the bond at least for the sake of their child,” said the court, especially since the couple’s son is young and would be better for both his parents to raise him.
The case sheds light on the fact that things have changed. First women were expected to just focus on their husband and the family instead of her career, but now women can choose to do both.
Also Read: Vismaya Case: Husband Surrenders, Social Media Says ‘Divorced Daughter Better Than Dead Daughter’
It’s time working women get the state support that they need
I remember my mom sharing an incident that happened with her some 25 years ago. She was at the age where most girls would get married, and so, like every other parent, her parents started looking for a groom for her. My mom put forth a simple condition, she wanted to work after marriage. But back then, nobody wanted a daughter-in-law who would work, so her parents requested her to drop the condition. And just like the obedient girl she was, she dropped it. And soon after, she married my father. Now, 25 years later she is a teacher who is passionate about her work. Sounds ideal, doesn’t it?
But this is not true for everyone. Even after so many years, women working after marriage and wanting to focus on their careers are still taken with a pinch of salt. Why is it that women are supposed to choose between a career and family? If a man can handle a work-life and family life then why can’t a woman? Why is it so strange if a husband has to shift to a place where his wife’s career is blossoming?
The fact that the Bombay HC had to point out that it was not selfish and unjust of a woman to want to settle abroad for a promising career gives hope to so many women out there that equality and sense can prevail. We need to normalize a working woman with a well-settled family that is proud and respects her work.
