In Brief
A couple—both doctors married in 2007—lived separately for over 15 years after the wife remained in Gujarat for work while the husband was in Rajasthan. The husband sought divorce on grounds of cruelty, citing the wife's refusal of sexual intimacy and denial of conjugal rights during brief visits home. The Family Court dismissed the petition, but the High Court reversed it, finding mental cruelty. The Supreme Court upheld the divorce, holding that sustained, unilateral denial of conjugal rights without justification constitutes mental cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act. The Court also emphasized that prolonged separation with failed reconciliation attempts amounts to irretrievable breakdown, warranting dissolution under constitutional powers to do complete justice.
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