IMPORTANT POINT
The main legal point established in the judgment is that conduct constituting cruelty and desertion, such as staying away from the spouse for an extended period without reasonable cause, can warrant dissolution of the marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

JUDGMENT

Neena Bansal Krishna, J. - The present Appeal under Section 19 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 read with Section 28 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (hereinafter to be referred to as "HMA") has been filed on behalf of the appellant/wife against the Order dated 26.04.2023 passed by the learned Judge, Family Court vide which divorce has been granted on the ground of cruelty and desertion in the petition filed by the respondent/husband under 13(1) (ia) and (ib) of the HMA.

2. Briefly stating, the parties got married on 04.06.2009 as per Hindu rites and ceremonies at Delhi. Thereafter they were blessed with one son on 27.01.2011.

3. The respondent/husband (petitioner in the Divorce petition hereinafter referred to as the `respondent') in his Divorce petition had asserted that the appellant/wife (respondent in the Divorce petition hereinafter referred to as the `appellant') did not care for him and his family since the day of their marriage. It is alleged that the appellant was in the habit of hurling sarcastic comments at him and his family members. She used to quarrel with him on petty issues without any reason and would become calm only after great difficulty and persuasion. He asserted that every weekend, the appellant was adamant to go to her parents' home without any regard to his wishes. Further, she never took any responsibility and did not accept the respondent or his mother. She did not do any household chores and did not take care of even his basic requirements, like food and clothing and would make excuses.

4. He asserted that after about four months of the marriage, in the first week of November 2009, the appellant left for her parents' house on the pretext that her cousin was getting married. Despite various requests, she returned after six months in May 2010.

5. The respondent further asserted that in June 2010, he took her to Kashmir on a holiday for 5-6 days with a hope of normalization of their matrimonial relationship. Against his hope, upon returning from Kashmir, the situation went from bad to worse as she continued to throw tantrums and humiliate him.

6. In the same month, she became pregnant and started threatening the respondent that if they did not move out of the matrimonial home, she would abort the baby. To satisfy her illogical demand, the respondent took a flat at 534, Sector 15, Part-I, near Jain Mandir, Gurugram, Haryana on a monthly rent where they started living from 24.06.2010 onwards. During her entire pregnancy, she restrained the respondent from visiting his parents by threatening that if he did not listen to her, she would jump out from the house which was on the second floor. Thus, he was under constant threat from the appellant causing him huge mental agony. He claimed that the appellant had always wanted to live separately and lead a flamboyant life despite being aware that he had certain obligations towards his parents, being their only son.

7. The respondent submitted that the appellant did not take care of his parents when the respondent's mother suffered from a brain stroke July 2013, and his father had an AICD implant put in his heart as his heart function had come down to 15% in March 2014.

8. On 31.10.2014, the respondent's father died and they shifted back to the paternal house of the respondent. However, the appellant neither helped his mother in any of the post death ceremonies nor provided any moral support in her grief. Mrs. Ashu Gupta, the sister of the respondent was called from her own matrimonial home and did all the work for post death rituals.

9. It was further alleged that due to the demise of the father of the respondent, the trip that had been booked to Goa for the month of December, 2014, had to be cancelled. The appellant created a scene at home because of the cancellation of the trip and compelled him to rebook the trip to Goa for January, 2015. As they had gone for an entire week to Goa, the respondent had to request his sister to come and stay with his mother to take