Delhi High Court says husband expecting wife to do household chores is not cruelty

The court's observation came as a CISF member made an appeal against a family court which refused to dissolve his marriage on the ground of cruelty by his wife.

The man said he was aggrieved by his wife's abandonment of matrimonial house, zero contribution in household chores and alleged false implication in criminal cases.

The applicant said his wife and her family also forced him to live separately from his family.

In its observation, the court said as quoted by NDTV, "In the case of Narendra vs K. Meena, it has been observed by the Supreme Court that asking a son to separate from his family amounts to cruelty. It was stated that, for a Hindu son in India, it is not a common practice or desirable culture to get separated from his family after marriage."

"When the parties enter into a wedlock, their intent is to share the responsibilities of future life. In a catena of decisions, it has already been held that if a married woman is asked to do household work, the same cannot be equated to the work of a maid servant and shall be counted as her love and affection for her family.

"In certain strata, the husband takes over the financial obligations and wife accepts household responsibility. Such is the present case. Even if appellant expected the respondent to do household chores, it cannot be termed as cruelty," it added.