AHMEDABAD: gujarat high court has notified a woman that she obtained a divorce through a family court mainly citing cruelty because her husband’s sister had married outside her caste and this information was hidden from her. The couple’s arranged marriage took place in 2018, according to the husband’s representative.
The wife left her matrimonial home two days after learning that her sister-in-law had married someone from another community whom she considered inferior in the caste hierarchy of the society. In 2020, the woman filed for divorce in Bhavnagar family court, alleging cruelty. She said her husband had withheld information about his sister’s death. inter caste marriage.
While he mentioned that he had two sisters, he did not reveal a third sister who had married outside her caste. She met this third sister only during the wedding. Additionally, she said her husband filed a police report alleging threats to his life from his family and mailed it to his workplace.
The husband filed a lawsuit requesting the restoration of conjugal rights, requesting judicial intervention to force his wife to return.
On September 30, 2024, the Bhavnagar family court dismissed his petition and granted the wife’s divorce petition. The husband challenged this decision through two separate appeals and requested HC to set aside the divorce order. After a preliminary hearing, Justices Biren Vaishnav and DM Desai stated that perusal of the impugned judgment and decree would indicate that one of the main reasons for considering the wife’s application alleging that the appellant husband had committed cruelty , is that one of the appellant’s sisters was married to someone from another community.
Following the notice issued to the woman, the high court has scheduled a joint hearing of both appeals for January 20.