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Debananda Tamuli vs Smti Kakumoni Kataky

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 187Decided 15 Feb 2022
Civil Appeal No. 1339 of 2022
Ajay Rastogi · Abhay S. Oka

Background

A husband and wife married in June 2009 but separated within two weeks, and the wife never returned to live with him except for a single day-long visit in December 2009 following the death of the husband's mother. The husband sought divorce on the grounds of cruelty (alleging refusal to consummate the marriage) and desertion, but both the District Court and the Gauhati High Court rejected his plea. He appealed to the Supreme Court, and a court-facilitated mediation and video-conference settlement attempt between the parties also failed.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed with the lower courts that cruelty was not established, but found that desertion was proved: the wife had been continuously away from the matrimonial home for more than two years before the divorce petition was filed, her brief visit in December 2009 was only due to a family death and did not show any intention to resume married life, and she took no steps (such as filing for restitution of conjugal rights) to reunite. The Court held that desertion requires both a factual separation and an intention (animus deserendi) to permanently end cohabitation, both of which were present here. It granted a decree of divorce and directed the husband to pay the wife a total of Rs. 15,00,000 as a one-time settlement.

Lesson Learnt

A spouse who stays away from the marital home for over two years without a genuine effort or intention to resume cohabitation can be found to have "deserted" the other spouse under the Hindu Marriage Act, even if the walkout itself was not accompanied by dramatic conflict.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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