Allahabad High Court has given an important decision while hearing a divorce case. The court has said that divorce can be taken on the basis of refusal to have sexual relations for a long time. This decision has been given by the bench of Justice Soumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Donadi Ramesh. The court has given this decision during the hearing of the divorce petition filed by a husband, in which he had demanded divorce due to his wife’s refusal to have sexual relations.
The court has made this comment while rejecting the husband’s petition. The husband had filed a petition in the High Court challenging the decision of the Chief Justice of Mirzapur Family Court. Mirzapur Family Court had rejected the husband’s divorce petition. The petitioner husband is a doctor by profession. His marriage took place in June 1999. Wife is a retired employee of Indian Railways. Both of them have two children, out of which one child lives with the father and the other child lives with the mother.
Husband had filed for divorce 9 years ago
9 years ago the husband had filed an application for divorce from the wife on the grounds of cruelty in the Mirzapur Family Court. The husband alleged that the wife refused to have sexual relations due to the advice of a religious guru. The wife denied her husband’s allegations and said that the birth of two children proves that we had a good relationship. While hearing this case, Allahabad High Court has now said that divorce can be demanded on the basis of refusing to have sexual relations for a long time.
Refusal to have sex can be grounds for divorce
The division bench of Justice Soumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Donadi Ramesh asked what kind of physical intimacy the parties can maintain. This issue is not a matter for judicial determination. It is not the job of the court to make any rules regarding the exact nature of the relationship between the parties living in a marital relationship. However, the Court has also said that refusal to have sex can be grounds for divorce, but it must be in continuous existence over a long period of time.
