Bombay High Court Says Wives Are Not 'Deemed Maids', Refuses Divorce Plea

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has held that wives are not “deemed maids” and their inability or refusal to perform household chores such as cooking and cleaning cannot by itself amount to cruelty for granting divorce.

A bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande recently quashed a Family Court order of July 23, 2010, which had granted divorce to a Mumbai-based Chartered Accountant on grounds of cruelty. The High Court also directed the husband to pay the wife Rs 10,000 per month towards maintenance and another Rs 10,000 towards rent for residential accommodation.

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The couple had married on February 28, 2002, but started living separately from July 7, 2002. The husband alleged that the wife did not perform household work properly, could not cook well, disrespected his parents and caused embarrassment to the family in society. He claimed that her conduct caused him mental stress and amounted to cruelty.

The wife denied all allegations and claimed that she was subjected to harassment and ill-treatment by the husband and his family. She alleged that despite doing household work, the family members were dissatisfied and she was often insulted and mistreated.

In its judgment delivered on May 8, the High Court said the allegations made by the husband were “trivial” and reflected ordinary disagreements that often arise during the initial days of marriage.

“For grant of divorce on the ground of cruelty, the actions complained of must be severe and causing extreme mental or physical violence rather than ordinary household disagreements,” the bench observed.

The court further said, “Mere failure to perform domestic work such as cooking, cleaning does not automatically amount to cruelty as marriage is a partnership of equals and not a service contract and the wives are not ‘deemed maids’.”

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The bench noted that the couple had lived together only for a very short period and it could not be concluded that their relationship had deteriorated to such an extent that living together had become impossible.

“We find that this phenomenon is usual feature in the beginning of a marriage,” the judges said, adding that “ordinary wear and tear of marriage has been given undue weightage to treat it as cruelty.”

The court also found that the Family Court had wrongly denied maintenance to the wife merely because she had once advertised art and craft classes. It held that occasional activities or skills cannot be treated as proof of a stable source of income.

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