Chhattisgarh High Court: Excessive Drinking by Husband Amounts to Mental Cruelty to Wife and Family
The Chhattisgarh High Court, in a recent judgment, has ruled that a husband’s excessive drinking habit, which leads to the deterioration of the family’s condition, constitutes mental cruelty towards the wife and the entire family, including children. The bench, comprising Justices Goutam Bhaduri and Sanjay Agrawal, made this observation while granting a wife’s plea for the dissolution of her marriage on the grounds of cruelty.
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“It is very natural that the wife would depend upon the husband for her household need and to upbring her children to give a good education and life. If the husband instead of discharging of his obligation indulges himself in excessive drinking habit, which deteriorates the family condition, it would naturally lead to a mental cruelty to the wife and the entire family including children.”
The case highlighted several allegations of cruelty by the husband, primarily stemming from his excessive drinking habits. The court was informed that the husband, while intoxicated, frequently abused and assaulted his wife. The situation escalated to such an extent that he even resorted to selling household items to finance his alcohol consumption.
Furthermore, despite having two children, the husband consistently failed to pay their school fees. When the wife sought money for these fees or other household necessities, he allegedly responded with abuse and physical assault. As the husband did not cross-examine the wife regarding these allegations during the family court proceedings, the High Court inferred that these claims were accepted as true.
The court remarked
“The conduct of the wife would show that she tried to save the marriage as otherwise in the earlier occasion the application seeking divorce on the similar ground of excessive drinking would not have been withdrawn on the promise of the husband that he would mend his behavior.”
In conclusion, the Chhattisgarh High Court determined that the husband’s behavior and excessive drinking habit amounted to mental cruelty towards his wife, thereby justifying the dissolution of the marriage.
