Kerala HC Says It Is Cruelty To Withhold Divorce If The Marriage Is Clearly Over

Divorces are a messy affair regardless of any complications. Add negativity and drama and the situation gets completely out of hand. Moreover in a country like India, where divorces are taboo, spouses making the already difficult process harder on each other is the last thing we need. However, there are many instances where spouses refuse to sign the divorce paper whilst agreeing that their relationship is over. Kerala HC (High court) has rightfully claimed that spouses who deny divorce despite acknowledging that the relationship has ended are practising cruelty. 

A division bench of Justice A Muhamed Mustaque said on February 4 that a spouse who refuses to grant a divorce while mutually agreeing that the marriage is over is practising cruelty. This was said while looking into appeals filed by 2 spouses separately.  The judge further said that if one of the spouses is refusing to agree to divorce despite agreeing that the marriage is over, then this is nothing but a ploy to spite the other spouse and is an act of cruelty. 

The wife had challenged the Nedumangad family court which granted divorce to her husband on the grounds of cruelty while the husband was seeking permanent custody of their 5-year-old son. The couple has been married since 2015. The husband was teaching in an engineering college while the wife was a post-graduate dental student at Kannur. They allegedly were not able to bond emotionally which the court claims is due to them staying apart initially. The husband accused the wife of being quarrelsome and obsessive while not getting along with his sister and mother. The wife alleged that the husband did not emotionally support her through her education and pregnancy. The court hypothesized that both of them were incompatible from the very beginning. A reconciliation attempted by the court also failed. 

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The bench then discussed the need for a divorce intervention and according to reports said, “If the conduct and character of one party causes misery and agony to the other…, the element of cruelty… would surface, justifying grant of divorce. If the parties cannot mend their ways, the law cannot remain oblivious to those who suffer in that relationship. In any matrimonial relationship, spouses may have a different outlook on the marriage based on faith, perceptions, outlook, attitudes, social ethos, etc. Fearing divorce is repugnant to his or her notion… Human problem requires resolution consistent with the notion of justice.”

I for one am glad that the Kerala HC put this into perspective. If a relationship is most definitely over, it makes no sense for the couple to force the marriage, making life harder on both of them. It definitely is cruel to force a spouse to stay in a relationship that doesn’t fulfil them.

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