BENGALURU: Karnataka high court has dismissed a man’s appeal against a Bengaluru family court verdict that had rejected his plea for divorce on the grounds of cruelty by his wife.The HC observed that the man appeared to expect excessive compliance from his life partner. “Marriage is no child’s play. Both husband and wife must compromise and adjust to maintain a normal marital relationship… (But) the petitioner sought an obedient and sincere maid rather than a wife. His unwillingness to adjust led to the breakdown of the marital relationship,” the court ruled.The appellant, employed in the US, had married a Singapore-based woman in 2015. The couple cohabited for only 25 days, including a ten-day stay in India.In 2016, the man filed a petition seeking divorce on grounds of cruelty. The family court dismissed the petition in 2020, observing that the wife had demonstrated that the husband and his mother were frustrated at not having received any significant dowry amount or property from her.The husband subsequently approached the HC.“According to Hindu customs and religion, marriage is regarded as a sacred union, not merely a cohabitation between a man and a woman. This union cannot be dissolved simply by filing a petition in court and making allegations against one another,” observed a division bench comprising Justices Jayant Banerji and Umesh M Adiga.It further held: “This case exemplifies a situation where the husband has sought divorce for trivial reasons.”
