The Delhi High Court has granted divorce to a couple on the ground of mental cruelty by the husband, observing that he viewed his wife as a "cash cow" and became interested in her only after she got a job with the Delhi Police.
A bench headed by Justice Vipin Sanghi said the husband's materialistic attitude, without any emotional ties, would have caused mental agony and trauma to the wife, which is sufficient to constitute cruelty to her.
The bench, also comprising Justice Jasmeet Singh, observed that generally, it is the desire of every married woman to start a family, however, in the present case, the husband appeared to be "not interested in nurturing the marriage but only interested in the wife's income".
The court set aside a family court's order which had rejected the wife's divorce plea and dissolved the marriage between the parties under the Hindu Marriage Act.
She sought a divorce on the ground that the husband was unemployed, an alcoholic and used to physically abuse her and demand money.
In the present case, both the parties belonged to poor background and the marriage was solemnised when the husband and the wife were 19 years old and 13 years old, respectively.
Even after 2005, the wife was not taken to the matrimonial home until November 2014, that is, when she secured a job with the Delhi Police.
"The continued distance between the parties even after the appellant (wife) attained majority would, in itself, have caused trauma and resulted in cruelty to the appellant apart from everything else... (the) circumstance probabalises the stand of the appellant, that the respondent (husband) harassed the appellant to pocket her income, since he was himself unemployed," the court said.
"The respondent, it appears, viewed the appellant as a cash cow and became interested in her only after she got the job with the Delhi Police. Such brazenly materialistic attitude of the respondent, with no emotional ties, would have in itself caused mental agony and trauma to the appellant sufficient to constitute cruelty to her," it added.
The husband opposed the dissolution of marriage on the ground that he funded the woman's education because of which she secured the job.
The court observed that since the wife was living with her parents till 2014, it was "obvious that all her expenses for living and upbringing would have been borne by her parents" and there was nothing to show the contrary.
"From our interaction with the respondent, it has become absolutely clear to us that the interest of the respondent in continuing with the relationship is only on account of the fact that the appellant has a job with Delhi Police, and he views the alleged expenditure - which he claimed he has incurred on the education of the appellant (and which is disputed by the appellant), as an investment, which would not bear fruit in case parties were to part ways with judicial intervention," the court said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
AR Rahman's Defamation Notice After Separation Post Sparks Rumours AR Rahman's Son Denies Any Link Between Parents, Bassist Mohini Dey's Divorce: "False And Baseless Rumours" AR Rahman-Saira Banu Divorce: Lawyer Says Bassist Mohini Dey Is "Not Connected" To This Situation- "They Made This Decision Independently" 3 Dead, Over 30 Cops Injured: Violence In UP's Sambhal Over Mosque Survey Internet Snapped, Schools Shut As Violence Over Mosque Survey Kills 3 In UP Winter Session Of Parliament Begins Today, 10-Plus Bills Scheduled: 10 Facts Chuck Woolery, Original 'Wheel Of Fortune' Host, Dies At 83 Noida Woman Gets Fake Probe Agency Notices On WhatsApp, Duped Of Rs 34 Lakh Watch: Canadian Runner Creates Dancing Stick Man Art, Video Goes Viral Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.