Wife Opting For Job Far Away From Matrimonial Home Isn’t ‘Desertion’: Chhattisgarh HC [Read Order]

‘The husband and wife are to be equally treated and if the wife opted to join the job at a different place, she cannot be otherwise forced at the behest of the husband or his family members to remain at her matrimonial home alone.’

The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that if a wife opts for a job at a place far away from her matrimonial home, it cannot be said that she is guilty of desertion.

Justice Goutam Bhaduri observed that if the wife opted to join the job at a different place, she cannot be otherwise forced at the behest of the husband or his family members to remain at her matrimonial home alone.

In this case, a man had sought divorce on the ground that his wife started living away from matrimonial home as she got job there. As the family court dismissed his plea, he approached the high court by filing appeal.

No unilateral decision can be imposed on wife to make a choice either between husband or her job

The court observed that no unilateral decision can be imposed on wife to make a choice either between husband or her job and it is not expected that she would be kept in a boundary of matrimonial obligation only in confinement.

The judge said: “According to the ordinary notions of the hindu society, the wife is expected to perform the marital obligations at her husband's residence. The fact of change in the society and the different life style of the persons also cannot be ignored at this stage and when the girl is well educated, it is not expected that she would be kept in a boundary of matrimonial obligation only in confinement. It is for the husband and wife to balance the marital ties, which they are duty bound to do for each other. At the social background if the girl procures a job of a like nature of the Assistant Professor, in these days when procuring a job on merits is difficult and highly competitive then no unilateral decision can be imposed on wife to make a choice either between husband or her job. Simultaneously, if the wife opted for job, the same cannot be termed as willful desertion.”

It cannot be said that she is guilty of desertion

The court further observed that the husband and wife are to be equally treated and if the wife opted to join the job at a different place, she cannot be otherwise forced at the behest of the husband or his family members to remain at her matrimonial home alone.

“It is true, in modern days inflation is so high, the couple wants to augment their income but to have it peacefully the husband and wife has to workout the solutions which may continue with the matrimonial ties and social status of better living. If the wife has got the job on the basis of her merit and got selected at a place far away other than from her matrimonial home, it cannot be said that she is guilty of desertion. It is the mutual respect of husband & wife for each other which keeps the family alive and if anyone acts in sudden spark with a knee jerk reaction and the husband tries to act as a master and dictate the wife to be at a particular place non-adherence thereto alone would not amount to willful desertion.”

Read the Order Here