Sari may be a bothersome garment, especially compared to the Punjabi dress, but a marriage cannot be ended over it, the Bombay High Court has held.
Dismissing a petition filed by a homoeopathic practitioner, a Division Bench of Justices A.P. Deshpande and Rekha Sondurbaldota held that her in-laws' insistence on her wearing sari would not amount to “cruelty” under the Hindu Marriage Act.
Alka and Anand (both names changed) got married in June 2003. Alka soon fell out with her husband and in-laws and returned to her parents' house. Besides lodging a criminal complaint against her husband, his mother and two sisters for subjecting her to torture for dowry, Alka filed a divorce petition in the family court.
In the divorce petition, she cited several instances of cruelty including her husband's illicit relationship with another woman. One of her grievances was that she was forced to wear sari by her in-laws. After the family court rejected her application, she filed an appeal in the High Court.
Upholding the family court's decision, the High Court last week said the in-laws' insistence on her wearing sari could not be an instance of cruelty to dissolve the marriage.
