Consumption Of Alcohol By Wife Not Cruelty Unless Followed By Unwarranted & Uncivilized Behavior: Allahabad High Court

While granting a decree of divorce on grounds of desertion, the Allahabad High Court has observed that merely because the wife consumes alcohol does not amount to cruelty unless it is followed by uncivilized behavior.The bench held,“Consuming of Alcohol by itself does not amount to cruelty, if it is not followed by unwarranted & uncivilized behavior. Though, consuming of alcohol in middle-class society is still a taboo and not a part of culture, however there is no pleadings on record to show as to how consuming of alcohol has caused cruelty to the husband/appellant.”Case BackgroundThe marriage between the parties was solemnized in 2015. Thereafter, there was drastic change in the wife's behavior. Amongst other things, respondent-wife tried to force the appellant to leave his parents and move to Kolkata, to which he did not agree. Eventually, the wife moved to Kolkata with their minor son and refused to return despite the husband's requests. Appellant-husband had filed a divorce petition in Lucknow. Since the wife did not put in appearance, the Court proceeded ex-parte and rejected the divorce petition on grounds that cruelty by the wife remained unproved. It was further held that desertion was not proved as the it was not the case where the wife had stayed separately for a period of more than 2 years for work. Appellant challenged the order of the Family Court before the High Court. Since the wife did not put in appearance despite serval service of notice by the Court, the Court proceeded ex-parte. High Court VerdictObserving that the burden to prove cruelty is on the plaintiff/ appellant, the Court of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Om Prakash Shukla held that no specific incidents were pleaded to show change in behavior of the wife so as to amount to cruelty.It was held that mere allegations of consuming alcohol cannot amount to cruelty unless it is followed by certain behaviors. It was observed that allegations of consumption of alcohol during pregnancy was not proven as there was nothing to show any signs of weakness or other medical ailments in the child. Accordingly, it was held that the appellant-husband was entitled to a divorce decree on grounds of cruelty. However, regarding the plea of desertion by the wife, the High Court observed that the wife had completely and wilfully neglected the husband so as to constitute “desertion” under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act. Noting the conduct of the wife in ignoring summons and service of notice by the Family Court and the High Court, the Court held that the marriage between the parties was beyond repairs.Accordingly, the Court set aside the order of the Family Court rejecting the divorce petition and granted divorce on grounds of desertion by the wife.Case Title: Rachit Verma v. Smt. Anuradha Dey [FIRST APPEAL No. - 37 of 2021]Case citation: 2025 LiveLaw (AB) 16Click Here To Read/Download Order

Consumption Of Alcohol By Wife Not Cruelty Unless Followed By Unwarranted & Uncivilized Behavior: Allahabad High Court

Upasna Agrawal

Tags