HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has upheld a family court decree dissolving the marriage between a couple from Nizamabad, affirming that the husband had successfully established the grounds of cruelty and desertion under Sections 13(1)(ia) and 13(1)(ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
A division bench, comprising Justice K Lakshman and Justice BR Madhusudhan Rao, dismissed the wife’s appeal challenging the family court’s judgment, which had granted divorce after examining oral and documentary evidence. The marriage was solemnised on May 7, 2006, and the parties have been living separately for over 15 years.
The bench noted that the husband had produced consistent evidence showing that the wife frequently left the matrimonial home without justification, refused to resume cohabitation despite repeated reconciliation efforts through community panchayats, and initiated criminal and domestic violence proceedings against him. The court observed that the evidence on record established both mental cruelty and desertion.
Relying on precedents of the Supreme Court, including Samar Ghosh v. Jaya Ghosh, Rakesh Raman v. Kavita, Naveen Kohli v. Neelu Kohli, and Sonal Talpada v. Veerbhan Singh, the bench reiterated that cruelty must be assessed in the facts and circumstances of each case and that prolonged separation is a relevant factor in matrimonial disputes.
The court also dismissed the wife’s plea seeking Rs 50 lakh as permanent alimony under Section 151 CPC.