Wife’s Apathy Towards In-Laws Constitutes Cruelty, Justifies Divorce: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court upheld a divorce decree, ruling that a wife’s apathy towards her aged in-laws constituted cruelty under matrimonial law.

A Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar observed that indifference to elderly parents in a joint Hindu family violates essential marital obligations.

The Court noted the wife’s disregard for her ailing mother-in-law, coupled with prolonged denial of marital intimacy, filing of retaliatory FIRs, and alienation of the child, collectively amounted to mental cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

The Court found no merit in her appeal and affirmed the husband’s entitlement to divorce.