Marital Discord Between Relatives Not Ground for Divorce or Cruelty: Jharkhand HC

The Jharkhand High Court has delivered a stern reminder that matrimonial disputes between siblings of a married couple cannot be weaponized as grounds for cruelty or desertion to seek divorce. In a comprehensive ruling, the Court emphasized that a spouse cannot benefit from their own neglect by refusing to cohabit due to external family tensions, thereby affirming the sanctity of the marital bond over collateral domestic conflicts.

A division bench comprising Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava adjudicated two interconnected first appeals arising from a matrimonial dispute. The appellant-husband challenged the Family Court’s refusal to grant a decree of divorce and its subsequent direction to restore conjugal rights to the respondent-wife. The central controversy revolved around whether the wife's alleged demand for separate accommodation and the husband's refusal to keep her linked to a parallel dispute between their respective siblings constituted legal grounds for dissolution under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

Court’s Rationale on Cruelty and Desertion

The Court analyzed the definition of cruelty as established in Dr. N.G. Dastane vs. Mrs. S. Dastana ( "(1975) 2 SCC 326": 1975 CaseBase(SC) 376) and Shobha Rani v. Madhukar Reddi ( "(1988)1 SCC 105": 1987 CaseBase(SC) 685), noting that cruelty must be of such character as to cause a reasonable apprehension of harm. The bench observed that the appellant-husband failed to establish any specific overt acts of cruelty. On the contrary, the evidence suggested that the husband himself had neglected the wife, admitting in previous proceedings under Section 125 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure that he was unwilling to keep her.

The Court has following directions:

"The husband (appellant herein) to restore conjugal life with her within three months."

The Court, in its reasoning, observed: "The appellant-husband has miserably failed to establish the allegation of cruelty against the respondent-wife, rather it has come on record that the appellant-husband has admitted that he does not want to keep the respondent with him. ... The conclusion is that the plea of desertion raised by the appellant is unsustainable in law and on facts."

Background

The parties were married in 2009. The dispute arose shortly after, as the husband's sister was married to the wife's brother in a 'Golat' marriage arrangement. Tensions between the siblings led to the husband leaving the wife at her parental home in July 2009. The husband sought divorce citing Debananda Tamuli vs. Kakumoni Kataky and Lachman Utamchand Kirpalani v. Meena ( "AIR 1964 SC 40": 1963 CaseBase(SC) 107), alleging that the wife demanded separate accommodation and treated him with cruelty by filing maintenance cases.

However, the wife consistently maintained her desire to reunite, sending legal notices and filing for restitution of conjugal rights. The Family Court dismissed the husband's divorce petition (Original Suit No. 584 of 2019) and allowed the wife's petition for restitution (Original Suit No. 313 of 2019), relying on the principles in Suman Singh v. Sanjay Singh ( "(2017) 4 SCC 85": 2017 CaseBase(SC) 86). The High Court, after reappraising the evidence under Section 19 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 and considering Jagdish Singh v. Madhuri Devi ( "(2008) 10 SCC 497": 2008 CaseBase(SC) 339) and A. Jayachandra v. Aneel Kaur ( "(2005) 2 SCC 22": 2004 CaseBase(SC) 802), upheld the Family Court's decision, noting that the husband could not take advantage of his own wrong.

Case Details:
Case No.: First Appeal No. 177 of 2024 with First Appeal No. 178 of 2024
Neutral Citation: 2026:JHHC:30287-DB
Case Title: Rajesh Kumar Swarnkar v. Girja Swarnkar
Appearances:
For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Indrajit Sinha, Ms. Ashwini Priya, Ms. Sanjana Shreshtha, Mr. Kaushik Chakraborty, Advocates
For the Respondent(s): Ms. Tejaswi, Ms. Puja Agarwal, Advocates

Source: 2026 CaseBase(JHKD) 3191