Unidirectional divorce

Desertion of two years is a ground for divorce. If it hasnt been two years you can file a case for restitution of conjugal rights asking her to resume living with you, if she does not that as well would become a ground for divorce. In all this - be on the watch for nasty false divorce cases. Read this article that ive' wrote - this would run you up to speed on all dimensions of it 

How to fight a false 498A ? A common husband’s guide.

“For men in India marriage is a lottery but you can’t tear up your ticket even if you lose…” and it’s not just you who would have to live with the lost lottery but your entire family may have to suffer at the hands of a system so grossly skewed in favour of women.

Marriages may fall apart for a lot of reasons, temperamental issues, compatibility problems, but does that make you an offender in the eyes of law? Yes it does, your estranged wife in order to have her way in arm-twisting you may implicate you and your family in end number of false cases, 498A being the foremost.

498A penalizes cruelty for dowry, almost always comes alongwith S.406 Allegations which basically penalize the criminal breach of trust, when your wife’s articles are entrusted to you and you fail to return them back – misappropriate them or convert them to own use – you are criminally liable !. By aid of S.34 of the Indian Penal Code – your family/relatives can be held liable for the same if they share the common intention with you.

Now if you think that you have a wife who can potentially do this for money or the kicks that her ego gets out of the same or pure vengeance then you are my friend in a vulnerable situation, but there is a silver lining to this, there are legal strategies that may help minimize, if not completely rule out, the damage or mischief that may occur to you.

Being a Supreme Court Advocate and a Mens Rights Activist I speak from experience, the following things may(if done correctly) help in a lot of cases :-

1. Insist on a dowry-less marriage – Preparing of list of articles received at the time of marriage, countersigned by both the families, would help rule out exaggerated claims later !

2. Digging the well before the fire starts; when trouble starts at home you apprise all concerned of the problems that you are facing, not for the purposes of any action but information;

If you see things going awry in near future, then it would be good idea to seperate from parents to a rented house with sufficient public notices;

3. As per the prevailing law atleast here in Delhi, if your wife approaches a Police Station with her complaint, she is to be forwarded CAW CELL instituted to try and reconcile and investigate and act as buffers so that penal actions are not inititated right away. Once the matter goes to CAW Cell – apply for an anticipatory bail , you are sure to get notice bail atleast – this would help in two ways :-

a) Give you greater confidence, level playing field in the CAW Cell talks;

b) Prevent any hasty arrest on failure of conciliation;

All in all nothing to lose in this and in this step 1. Would help a great deal.

4. Seek a copy of complaint via RTI ASAP, since they deny at the first instance you’d have to appeal therefrom which may take some time. There are CIC Decisions that would help you here.

5. In the event of an FIR being registered apply for AB again, and quashing of FIR (not always depends on the kind of allegations leveled)

6. Filing Restitution of Conjugal Rights (case that you want her back) may help in some cases, but not in all. Sometimes it helps in defending maintenance cases, and showing your bona fides.

7. Keep a check on your wife’s finances. Would come handy defending maintenance cases.

8. Prosecution (S.340 CrpC) for perjury in cases of false & exaggerated claims in maintenance petitions.

9. Tax Evasion Petitions once you get the List of Istridhan may also help put pressure.

10. Dowry Prohibition Act – penalizes giving of dowry so in case there is a clear admission of DOWRY (not Istridhan) then in that case your in laws are also liable to be prosecuted. Think on these lines !

11. With a marital property law on the anvil, don’t buy property in your name, much less jointly with spouse.

The above may go a great deal helping you defend correctly, my advise would be to stand your ground, don’t give in to their extortionate tactics, once you’d get an AB the worst would already be over and after that the judicial system with it’s endemic delays won’t treat your wife differently, sooner or later she would realize that frivolous litigation doesn’t pay !

The Author is a Supreme Court Advocate, and a Mens Rights Activist and can be reached at bharat.law06@gmail.com, Tel : 9810553252

No. As per indian law, you cannot get divorce on any ground.  try for mutual consent divorce.  The factum of your case does not indicate desertion.  In the present era, where husband and wife are working people and that too working in different countries, it cannot be said that "matrimonial home" is the place,  where husband lives.  If wife, for her livelihood and maintaining the dependent parents work somewhere else, which results to stay away from her husband, the grieving husband cannot raise the plea of "desertion". 

@ Author,

1. I donot buy faulty arguments of Chandu. If his arguments are to be believed then he should explain further to the forum why two people get married in Indiar?. That also means once married then wife can live on some or the pretext in Venus and Husband can also do the same living in Mars; why only Indian wife should be given preference to choose her place of living read with livelihood?. That also means Legislatures should do away with “Desertion” and “Restitution of Conjugal Rights” Sections of Law and give credit to Chandu to have explained so well to them how simple it is to “desert” by wife, company of her Husband on pretext of studies or livelihood or looking after her parents etc.


I mean it is OK to sympathise wife in each and every query here but not to that extent that you override provisions of laws and give your own faulty logics without application of mind in the pretext of only champion of Women’s Liberation in India.


I will go by sound advise of Bharat to your query which is reasonable and is within parameters of Law. I mean what quality of marital life you both are giving to each other by simple exchange of Mangalsutra in 2010 !!!!


What a funny empowered logic Chandu !!!!


2. @ Author, in your brief you also need little tweaking in daily dealings with your wife. When she says she may rejoin you but some sharing of finances to upkeep her natal family is needed then instead of disagreeing to her half way proposal little parting of salary from your own pocket could be adjusted too. After all what is important in all these - saving matrimony or getting engaged into contentious litigation in Court of Law in India with present job security of yours at shaky level once any case goes to floor of Courts. Indian matrimony today with emancipated read as empowered Indian wife is all about little adjustments here and there and deciding yourself limit of reasonableness and value it is going to add to your quality of life after all it is your matrimony at stake not ours !