The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that when a husband compels his wife to leave her employment and dictates how she must live — forcing her to conform to his “wish and style” — such conduct amounts to cruelty under the law and can justify divorce.
In this case, the wife, who was employed as an Assistant Manager with a government undertaking, alleged that after she secured a job, her husband — who was unemployed — began pressuring her to resign and stay with him until he found work. He insisted she stop working, asserting that she should not take up any job until he did so. The High Court found that this coercion infringed her autonomy and dignity and amounted to mental cruelty. The Court also noted that neither spouse can dictate the other’s employment choices. On that basis, it allowed her appeal against an earlier family court order and granted a decree of divorce.
This decision reiterates that marital cruelty includes compulsion to give up career opportunities and live under the other spouse’s imposed conditions.
