Posting in another city not desertion, no ground for divorce:HC

Posting in another city not desertion, no ground for divorce:HC

If your spouse is posted in another city, it cannot be called desertion and you cannot cite this as ground for divorce. This is what the Bombay high court observed on Friday while hearing a divorce petition filed by a 38-year-old income-tax officer. His petition says he wanted divorce because of desertion by his 35-year-old wife, an officer with the Reserve Bank of India. The family court rejected his petition on October 6, 2010, following which he approached the Bombay high court. The couple married on May 9, 2001, as per Buddhist rites. On June 1, 2001, his wife resumed her duty in Ahmedabad. They have a 10-year-old child. According to the husband’s appeal, they had an argument at their child’s naming ceremony at her matrimonial home on May 26, 2002. She allegedly went to his office the next day and humiliated him in front of his staff. The Buddhism Utkarsha Mandal tried to reconcile the difference between the couple without success, said the appeal. The husband filed a petition for restitution of conjugal rights in June 2006. He withdrew it in October 2007 because his wife was not willing for a reconciliation. In November 2007, he filed for a divorce in the family court on the grounds of desertion. It was rejected by the family court after observing that it cannot be said that the wife deserted him with the intention not to cohabit with him forever. On Friday, the division bench of justice PB Majmudar and justice AV Mohta said that since the wife was posted in Ahmedabad, it cannot be said that she deserted him. “How can it be desertion? This is an eye-opener. Employers should consider whether ladies (sic) should be transferred,” said justice Majmudar. The wife’s advocate told the court the man regularly visited her on weekends. However, after she was transferred back to Mumbai, he refused to allow her to enter her matrimonial home, said her advocate. Since the husband was not present in the court on Friday, the court has summoned him for hearing on April 20.