No Veil, No Cruelty: High Court's Game-Changing Verdict

The Allahabad High Court ruled that a wife's choice not to wear a veil isn't a ground for divorce due to cruelty. The court granted divorce based on 23 years of desertion between the couple, following an appeal by the husband against a trial court decision.

The Allahabad High Court has issued a landmark ruling, asserting that a woman's decision to forgo wearing a 'parda' (veil) cannot be considered cruelty toward her husband and thus is not a valid ground for divorce.

The judgment came from a two-judge panel including Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Donadi Ramesh, in response to an appeal by a man whose divorce suit was previously dismissed at the trial level. However, the court did grant him a divorce based on the couple's more than 23-year period of desertion.

The court described the wife's sustained refusal to cohabit or seek restitution of conjugal rights as an act of desertion serious enough to dissolve the marriage. The couple, who married in 1990, separated shortly after having a child in 1995, and have lived apart for over two decades.

(With inputs from agencies.)