Chennai: Setting aside a trial court order refusing divorce to an estranged couple, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court observed that a wife cannot be expected to behave like the pug in the “unforgettable” adv…

Chennai: Setting aside a trial court order refusing divorce to an estranged couple, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court observed that a wife cannot be expected to behave like the pug in the “unforgettable” advertisement for Vodafone.A bench of Justices G R Swaminathan and M D Sumathi also stated that it may not always be feasible for a husband to take his wife along whenever he is transferred to another city. The husband moved the Family Court in Sivaganga in 2014 seeking a divorce, alleging his wife was in an adulterous relationship after he moved to Mumbai from Sivaganga.The trial court, while refusing divorce in 2021, observed that a husband is bound to maintain his wife and that it is “highly impracticable for any one to overcome the impulse of sexual desire.”‘Marriage not a licence to control’: Karnataka High Court says wife can’t be forced to look after in-laws“Therefore, it remains the solemn duty of every husband that wherever he goes, he shall take his wife with him and he shall not be a cause for adultery or for any rumour of adultery,” the trial court had said.The trial court also held that when a husband fails to take his wife with him for any reason whatsoever, he is not entitled to plead adultery, as he is a “perpetrator of the crime” and cannot be allowed to take advantage of his own wrong.Hearing the appeal filed by the husband, the judges noted that while radical feminists might applaud the trial court’s revolutionary approach, the logic was impractical.“It may not always be feasible to take the wife along. Suppose the husband is a soldier, it is not possible to set up a marital home in the army barracks. The wife could be gainfully employed. She cannot be expected to conduct herself like the pug in the unforgettable Vodafone advertisement,” the judges wrote in their order on August 19.The judges referred to the iconic Vodafone advertisement featuring a pug that follows its master wherever he goes.The couple, who married in 1992 and have four children, have been living separately for 16 years, during which the wife made no steps to rejoin him.“We are more than satisfied that the relationship between the parties has broken down beyond repair,” the judges said, granting a decree of divorce while directing the husband to pay Rs 7 lakh as alimony.“In a given case where the marital relationship has broken down irretrievably, where there is a long separation and absence of cohabitation between the parties, then continuation of such a ‘marriage’ would only mean giving sanction to cruelty which each is inflicting on the other,” the judges added.

Source: Deccan Herald