Punjab and Haryana HC grants divorce to man separated for past 10 years

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court, while deciding a matrimonial dispute, observed that “living together is not a compulsory exercise” but “marriage is a tie between two parties.” A division bench comprising Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Ashok Kumar Verma made the observations while granting divorce in a case where the marriage of a couple had problems from the first day.
Both were living separately and the wife despite being a secured and financially independent woman was not ready to settle the dispute. The court found that she was not interested in moving ahead in her life and was adamant that even her husband should not move ahead in his life. The couple in this case was married in 2011 and has no children. According to the man, since the inception of the marriage, the behaviour, conduct and attitude of his wife was not good towards him and his family members. He also claimed that after a few days of marriage, his wife stated that she had been forcefully married and he was not of her choice. He also claimed that she used to pick up fights on petty matters, abuse in filthy language and also threatened the appellant to implicate him and his family members in a false and frivolous criminal case.
The woman had left her matrimonial home in 2012 and since then the couple was living separately. The husband and his family were acquitted of all the complaints. In October 2016, the Amritsar family court dismissed the man’s plea for divorce, terming the dispute between the couple as normal wear and tear on married life.The man then approached the HC seeking a divorce. Responding to the man’s allegations, his wife described them as false.
The HC made several attempts to settle the dispute amicably between the couple but all in vain. After hearing both the parties and examining the record, the bench observed that the marriage between the parties had broken down irretrievably and there was no chance of their coming together or living together again. The bench said not granting a decree of divorce would be disastrous for the parties. The bench set aside the Amritsar court’s order and granted him divorce. He was directed to set up a FD of Rs 6 lakh in favour of his wife.