Mere Separation Not a Ground for Divorce: Jharkhand High Court Reaffirms Requirement of Proved Cruelty
First Appeal No.187 of 2017
By Navya Tiwari
In Chiranjeev Kumar Jha v. Smt. Rekha Kumari Jha (First Appeal No. 187 of 2017, decided on 11 March 2026), the Jharkhand High Court upheld the dismissal of a divorce petition, holding that mere marital discord and prolonged separation, in the absence of proved cruelty, do not justify dissolution of marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
The appeal arose from a suit filed by the husband seeking divorce on the ground of cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Act. He alleged that his wife had subjected him to ill-treatment, refused to cohabit, and created circumstances rendering continuation of the marriage untenable. He also relied on the fact that the parties had been living separately for a considerable period.
The wife denied the allegations and consistently expressed her willingness to resume matrimonial life. She asserted that she had taken care of the husband during his medical treatment and that the breakdown of the relationship was not attributable to any act of cruelty on her part.
The Division Bench, comprising Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay and Justice Deepak Roshan, upon examining the evidence, found that the allegations of cruelty were vague, unsubstantiated, and unsupported by any specific incident of a grave nature. On the contrary, the record indicated that the wife and her family had supported the husband during his illness, thereby weakening his claims.
The Court further noted that the husband had earlier instituted a suit for restitution of conjugal rights and subsequently withdrawn it before seeking divorce, a sequence that cast doubt on the bona fides of his allegations.
Addressing the plea of long separation, the Court clarified:
“Irretrievable breakdown of marriage” is not a statutory ground under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
The High Court, therefore, cannot invoke it to grant divorce in the absence of established grounds such as cruelty.
Finding no legal or factual infirmity in the trial court’s decision, the High Court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the refusal to grant divorce.
