Desertion supports divorce only after two continuous years immediately preceding the petition.

The husband appealed under Section 19(i) of the Family Courts Act, 1984, against the dismissal of his divorce petition under Section 13(1)(ia) and (ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

He alleged that his wife quarrelled with and mistreated his parents, misused money provided for the family, insisted on a separate household, and left the matrimonial home on 1 July 2020.

The wife denied the allegations, alleged ill-treatment and neglect by her husband, and maintained that she was willing to resume cohabitation.

The Family Court dismissed the petition, finding cruelty and desertion unproved.

The husband had filed the petition on 4 December 2020.

1. Whether the husband proved that the wife had treated him with cruelty within the meaning of Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

2. Whether the wife had deserted the husband for a continuous period of at least two years immediately preceding the filing of the divorce petition.

Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act permits divorce where a spouse has treated the petitioner with cruelty; cruelty is assessed contextually and must be grave and weighty, beyond ordinary wear and tear of married life.

The Court relied on G.V.N. Kameswara Rao v. G. Jalili and Naveen Kohli v. Neelu Kohli on the required gravity of the conduct; V. Bhagat v. D. Bhagat and Samar Ghosh v. Jaya Ghosh on mental cruelty and its fact-specific assessment; and Savitri Pandey v. Prem Chandra Pandey on distinguishing cruelty from ordinary matrimonial discord.

Section 13(1)(ib) requires desertion for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding presentation of the petition.

Desertion requires separation coupled with animus deserendi and must subsist for the statutory period.

The Court found no basis to disturb the Family Court’s conclusion that cruelty had not been proved.

In particular, the husband’s own evidence was that he had neither deposited money in his wife’s bank account nor sent it by money order; the allegation that she diverted money to her parents was therefore unproved.

The remaining allegations were disputed, and the existence of maintenance or criminal proceedings did not by itself establish either party’s allegations of cruelty.

The desertion claim failed on the husband’s pleaded dates: the wife allegedly left on 1 July 2020, but the petition was filed on 4 December 2020, well before the required two-year period had elapsed.

It affirmed the Family Court’s judgment and decree dismissing the divorce petition; there was no order as to costs.