Wife Not Cooking For Husband Cannot Be Termed Cruelty: Telangana High Court Rejects Divorce Petition
The court dismissed the husband's appeal, stating that it could not grant a divorce by considering his allegations of cruelty.
Published : January 7, 2026 at 1:13 PM IST
Hyderabad: When both husband and wife are employed, her not cooking for him cannot be considered cruelty, and divorce cannot be granted on that basis, the Telangana High Court has ruled.
A division bench comprising Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice Nagesh Bheemapakka recently delivered its verdict, dismissing an appeal from a man from LB Nagar here who had filed a petition seeking annulment of his marriage, claiming he was being subjected to cruelty by his wife.
The lower court dismissed his petition, leading him to file an appeal in the High Court. In its ruling, the High Court stated that while the husband works from 1 PM to 10 PM, the wife works from 9 AM to 6 PM, and therefore, not cooking in the morning cannot be considered cruelty.
"The petitioner used to come home by 11 pm and go to office by 1 pm while the respondent wakes up by 6 am and goes to office by 9 am. Not preparing food for her husband cannot be seen seriously and it cannot be termed as cruelty," the bench remarked.
The couple had married in 2018 and had been living apart since 2018 after a series of disputes. The husband had filed for divorce in 2019, alleging that his wife exhibited cruelty by not helping with household chores.
Regarding the husband's claim that his wife frequently goes to her parents' house and does not stay with him, the court noted that the husband gave conflicting statements, saying she stayed with him for five months in one instance and three months in another, during their one year and nine months of marriage.
The court also stated that staying with her parents after a miscarriage cannot be considered cruelty. While the Supreme Court has said that demanding a separate residence falls under cruelty, the High Court clarified that this applies depending on the facts of each case.
In the present case, the court stated that the wife did not propose the separation herself, but rather her lawyer advised her to do so, and therefore, it could not be considered cruelty. The court dismissed the appeal, stating that it could not grant a divorce by considering the husband's allegations of cruelty.
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