Can’t divorce ill wife, rules Supreme Court
The bench held that Hindu marriage is a sacred and holy union of a couple.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has rejected divorce by mutual consent when the wife is suffering from breast cancer and directed the husband to pay Rs 5 lakh within a week for her treatment observing that he has a pious duty to look after the wife in dire need.
Giving this ruling a bench of Justices M.Y. Eqbal and C. Nagappan said it is evident that the doctors recommended for an immediate surgery for the wife and chemotherapy ranging from six to eight cycles of adjuvant.
It is mentioned that approximate costs per cycle will cost about Rs 50,000. It is evident that the petitioner-wife needs sufficient amount of money for the treatment of breast cancer.
Hence, it cannot be ruled out that in order to save her life by getting money, she agreed for a settlement of dissolution of marriage. Writing the judgement Justice Eqbal said, “From the study of Hindu Law and different religious books, it cannot be disputed that after marriage, law enjoins the corresponding duty on the husband to look after her comforts and not only to provide her food but to protect her from all calamities and to take care of her health and safety.”
The bench held that Hindu marriage is a sacred and holy union of a couple by virtue of which the wife is completely transplanted in the household of her husband and takes a new birth.
The bench passed the order while rejecting the application moved by the woman Vennangot Anuradha Samir and the husband Vennangot Mohandas Samir for transferring their divorce suit to a Hyderabad court from Mumbai, after the man claimed he had agreed to pay her Rs 12 lakh as final settlement towards alimony.