A wife studying further or taking a job is a right and not a husband's favour, Jharkhand High Court says

7 November 2026

The Jharkhand High Court has held that a married woman who pursues higher education or takes up employment is exercising a right, not receiving a favour from her husband, and that she cannot be labelled over ambitious for doing so. The Division Bench granted the wife a decree of divorce on the ground of cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, finding that the treatment she faced over her studies and work amounted to cruelty in law. The Court said that a husband's resentment of his wife's education or career reflects a stereotype and has no place in matrimonial law, and that a demand to give up study or a job is not a reasonable expectation of married life. The judgment adds to a line of Jharkhand High Court rulings this month on what counts as cruelty, including one holding that accusing a wife of an affair merely because she speaks to another man is cruelty.