Wife refusing to have sex with husband is cruelty, valid ground for divorce: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently held that wife refusing to consummate marriage or have physical relationship with her husband amounts to mental cruelty and is a valid ground for the husband to seek divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act [Sudeepto Saha vs Moumita Saha]..A division bench of Justices Sheel Nagu and Vinay Saraf quashed a judgment of a family court in Bhopal which had by its November 2014 verdict, refused to grant divorce to a man who contended that his wife was subjecting him to mental cruelty by refusing to have sexual intercourse without any valid reason for a long time. "We understand that unilateral refusal to have sexual intercourse for considerable period without any physical incapacity or valid reason can amount to mental cruelty," the Court said.It noted that the wife had denied consummation of marriage from the date of their marriage on July 12, 2006) till the husband left India on July 28, 2006. The marriage was never consummated due to the unilateral decision of the wife to refuse sexual intercourse for considerable period without having valid reason, the bench noted. The Court further noted that despite the said contention of the husband, the wife didn't contest the same and therefore, the contentions or pleadings of the husband cannot be discarded and has to be accepted as it is.The Court said the family court erred in holding that the denial on part of wife to consummate a marriage would not be a ground to dissolve a marriage."We are unable to accept the findings of the Family Court in the issue of absence of consummation of marriage or physical intimacy. The Supreme Court has already accepted such an act (of refusing to consummate marriage) of the wife as mental cruelty," the bench underlined..Further, it said that there cannot be a straight-jacket formula or fixed parameters for determining mental cruelty in matrimonial matters. "The prudent and appropriate way to adjudicate the case would be to evaluate it on its peculiar facts and circumstances while taking the relevant factors in consideration," the Court explained.It further noted that the wife was very much aware that the husband would leave India in a short period of time after the marriage. "During this period, the husband was hopeful to consummate the marriage but the same was denied by the wife and certainly this act (of wife) amounts to mental cruelty," the Court held. Hence, it quashed and set aside the judgment of the family court. .The husband had appeared as a party-in-person. None appeared for the Wife. .[Read Judgment]