Mumbai: In modern society, burden of household work should be borne equally by couple, says Bombay HC

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The Bombay High Court noted that in modern society, the burden of household responsibilities should be borne equally by the couple. A division bench of Justices Nitin Sambre and Sharmila Deshmukh made the observation last week on September 6 while dismissing an appeal filed by a man seeking the dissolution of his 13-year-old marriage.

"He could not establish his claim of 'cruelty' against his estranged wife", the judges held. The 35-year-old man had challenged a March 2018 order of a family court dismissing his plea seeking divorce.

While the man contended in the plea that his wife was always on the phone and did not do household work, the woman claimed that she was forced to do all the household work after returning from office. The woman also claimed that she faced abuse when she contacted her family.

The bench, in its order, noted that both the man and woman were employed, and expecting the wife to do all the household work reflects a regressive mindset. "In modern society the burden of household responsibilities have to be borne by both husband and wife equally. The primitive mindset expecting the woman of the house to solely shoulder the household responsibilities needs to undergo a positive change," the Bombay HC said.

"The marital relationship must not lead to the wife in this case getting isolated from her parents and she cannot be expected to sever the ties with her parents," the court noted.

"Being in contact with one's parents cannot by any stretch of imagination be construed as inflicting mental agony on the other party. In our view, putting restrictions on the respondent to curtail her contact with her parents, has in fact, subjected the wife to mental cruelty apart from physical cruelty," the bench said.

(with inputs from PTI)