My husband is mostly living abroad and have open lifestyle. He does not give enough time to me and our children. Therefore, I want divorce on the ground of cruelty. He is a professor in atomic physics. Although he has the opportunity to teach in India but due to his lifestyle he used to live abroad.
Your husband is deliberately neglecting you and not performing his matrimonial obligations. Continuous ill-treatment, cessation of marital intercourse, studied neglect, indifference on the part of the husband amounts to cruelty.
In Shobha Rani v. Madhukar Reddi, (1988) 1 SCC 105 the Supreme Court has expressed it view that conduct of party in treatment of other if amounts to cruelty actual, physical or mental or legal, is a just reason for grant of divorce.
The infliction of cruelty can take various forms, including both mental and physical, and can be either intentional or unintentional. In cases of physical cruelty, the degree of harm is a matter of factual analysis. On the other hand, with mental cruelty, the investigation should first focus on the nature of the cruel behavior, followed by an assessment of its impact on the mental state of the spouse.
Your husband is deliberately living abroad and reluctant to perform his marital duties. Such acts cause adverse impact on the mental state of spouse. In V. Bhagat v. D. Bhagat (Mrs.), (1994) 1 SCC 337 the Supreme Court has held that for mental cruelty to be considered grounds for separation or divorce, it must be of a severity that would make it unreasonable to expect the parties to continue living together. The situation should be such that the aggrieved party cannot be expected to tolerate such behavior and coexist with the other party.
Hence, you can move a civil suit for the dissolution of marriage on the ground of cruelty as enumerated in section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act.
