Ranchi, Sept 2: The Jharkhand High Court has dismissed a man’s appeal seeking divorce from his wife, ruling that a criminal conviction, irrespective of the seriousness of the offence, does not by itself constitute a separate ground for dissolution of marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act.A Division Bench comprising Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Sanjay Prasad upheld a Family Court order that had rejected the husband’s petition for divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion.
The husband had cited his wife’s conviction in a dowry death case involving her sister-in-law as one of the reasons for seeking dissolution of the marriage. However, the High Court noted that the wife was subsequently acquitted in the criminal case in 2018.
The court observed that the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, specifies the grounds on which a marriage can be dissolved and does not treat a criminal conviction as an independent basis for granting divorce.The Bench further held that even if a criminal conviction had remained in force, it would not automatically establish cruelty or any other statutory ground required for dissolution of marriage.
The husband had also alleged that his wife mistreated his children from his first marriage. However, the court found that the available evidence did not support the allegation and noted that the children were residing with their maternal grandfather rather than with the couple.
The court also considered the multiple criminal cases filed by both spouses against each other. It observed that the record reflected disputes and hostility on both sides and noted that the husband had initiated more proceedings than the wife.
The court said the existence of several cases, by itself, could not establish unilateral harassment or cruelty.On the allegation of desertion, the court noted that the husband had stated that he left the matrimonial home and shifted to rented accommodation because of the alleged conduct of his wife.
The Bench held that he could not claim desertion by the wife when he himself had left the shared residence and the wife had expressed willingness to resume the marital relationship.
The Family Court had dismissed the husband’s divorce petition in July 2017. Challenging that decision, he approached the High Court.
After examining the material on record, the High Court concluded that the husband had failed to establish the statutory grounds of cruelty and desertion and found no reason to interfere with the Family Court’s decision.The appeal was consequently dismissed.
