INDORE: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has annulled a marriage, observing that a man compelling his wife to discontinue her education is equal to destroying her dreams, and pressuring her to live with someone neither educated nor willing to improve himself amounts to mental cruelty.
The Indore bench of the high court made this remark while annulling a woman’s marriage based on her petition.
It also cited the famous quote of American philosopher John Dewey, who said, “Education is not just about preparing for life, but it is life itself.”
The woman had appealed to the high court against the decision of a family court in Shajapur district, which had rejected her plea for parting ways with her husband.
In her appeal, the woman stated she married a man from Shajapur in 2015 after she cleared her Class 12 examination. She wanted to continue her studies after marriage, but her in-laws were completely against it.
Just a few days after the marriage, she returned to her parental home and filed for a divorce in the family court, but her petition was rejected.
The court instead ordered her to resume marital relations with her husband.
After that, the woman filed an appeal in the high court.
After examining the case details and arguments from both sides, a division bench of Justices Vivek Rusia and Gajendra Singh annulled the family court’s orders on Thursday (March 6).
The high court granted the woman’s appeal and annulled her marriage under the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act.
The court noted, “It is a case of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as the appellant and the respondent have been living separately since July 2016 with no possibility of reconciliation. Hence, the orders of the Principal Judge, Family Court are set aside.”
“Accordingly, both appeals are allowed, and the marriage solemnized on May 1, 2015 between the appellant and the respondent is dissolved under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The decree of restitution of conjugal rights in favour of the respondent/husband and against the appellant is set aside,” it said.
The division bench further stated, “Compelling the wife to discontinue her studies or creating an environment where she is unable to continue her education is equivalent to destroying her dreams at the very beginning of her marital life.”
“Forcing her to live with a person who is neither educated nor eager to improve himself certainly amounts to mental cruelty. We hold that this constitutes a valid ground for divorce under Section 13(1)(is) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955,” the court said.
It also highlighted and said, “It is a fact that in the 10 years since their marriage on May 1, 2015, the petitioner and respondent were together for only three days in July 2016. The wife’s experience during those days was a nightmare, and after that, they never lived together again.”
