Denying sex to husband for a long time without any justification amounts to mental cruelty and is a ground for divorce, the Delhi High Court has said.
The verdict came on a petition by a husband seeking divorce, complaining that his wife had subjected him to mental cruelty by not allowing him to have physical relations for four-and-a-half years, though she was not suffering from any physical disability.
While allowing the husband’s appeal, the court granted a decree of divorce to him noting that the wife, in a trial court, had not specifically denied the allegation.
“In view of the foregoing discussion, we are of the considered view that the husband has fully established that he was subjected to mental cruelty by the wife by denying sex to him for a long period despite living under the same roof, without any justification and though she was not suffering from any physical disability,” a Bench comprising Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Rani said.
The husband had challenged a trial court order of March dismissing his divorce petition on the ground that the instances of cruelty pleaded and proved by him did not satisfy the standard of cruelty as per the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
