Jharkhand High Court holds a wife's wish that her husband live as a 'gharjamai' is not cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act

30 September 2026

A Division Bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Sanjay Prasad dismissed a husband's appeal against a Family Court order refusing him a divorce.
He sought divorce on the ground of cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, saying his wife wanted him to live with her parents in Patna as a gharjamai.
The Court held: "Mere wish of respondent-wife that the appellant-husband should live as Gharjamai will not constitute cruelty."
It upheld the Family Court's finding that he was never compelled to live that way, and held that the wife's visits to her parental home were not a ground for divorce on these facts.
Cruelty, the Court said, must be grave and weighty, more than the ordinary wear and tear of married life.