Chhattisgarh High Court restores Marriage, rejects Divorce over ‘Dark Complexion’ claims

The Chhattisgarh High Court has quashed a divorce decree issued by the family court in favor of a man, saying that “taunting” him on his dark complexion and about his private employment was not enough to prove mental cruelty for a divorce.

The couple in the case came from Bilaspur and Durg, the pair got married but did so in the midst of personal differences, which had led to the marriage falling apart. The husband had filed a divorce petition with the family court on his wife’s alleged insultatons in response to his dark complexion and being employed in private sector. The family court granted the divorce after agreeing to these claims and considering them to be mental cruelty.

The wife appealed against the order before the High Court saying that she had not denied her responsibilities as a wife. She claimed that she had to live there, as she was employed in a government position, and the harassment over dowry demands by her husband and his family. She wanted to restore the marital relationship.

On hearing the appeal, a division bench of Justices Prashant Pratim Sahu and Sachin Singh Rajput noticed that the wife always tried to maintain marriage but never could be noticed similar intention from the husband.

The High Court also rejected the husband’s claims as not convincing as both were known prior to marriage. The bench in this case quashed previous claims of mental cruelty on the grounds of simple disagreement in their union or normal remarks, to the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision in Samar Ghosh vs Jaya Ghosh. It concluded there were no special circumstances to justify divorce, but that the marital relationship should be restored.