Excessive Drinking By Husband Leading To Deteriorating Family Condition Amounts To Cruelty On Wife: Chhattisgarh High Court

The Chattisgarh High Court while granting a divorce to a wife aggrieved by her husband's excessive drinking problem noted that if a husband, instead of fulfilling his duties and obligations to his wife and children, indulges in excessive alcohol consumption, which leads to a deterioration in the family's condition, then such actions by the husband would naturally lead to mental cruelty to the wife and children.

“It is very natural that the wife would depend upon the husband for her household need and to upbring her children to give a good education and life. If the husband instead of discharging of his obligation indulges himself in excessive drinking habit, which deteriorates the family condition, it would naturally lead to a mental cruelty to the wife and the entire family including children”, the Bench comprising Justice Goutam Bhaduri and Justice Sanjay S. Agrawal held.

Advocate Barun Kumar Chakrabarty appeared on behalf of the Appellant/wife.

The Appellant and Respondent were married and had two children aged 10 and 13. The Appellant/Wife alleged that the Respondent used to assault her after excessive alcohol consumption physically and would sell household items. The Appellant's brother provided for the family's necessities, including school fees. The Wife further alleged that the husband was unemployed and did not seek work due to his drinking problem. As a result, the Appellant filed for divorce on the grounds of cruelty, but the Family Court dismissed her appeal. She then appealed before the High Court, challenging the Family Court's order and judgment.

The Court noted that the husband/Respondent failed to fulfill his duty to provide for his children's education. The Court also stated that a father neglected his responsibilities, particularly when his wife was unemployed. The Court based its decision on the Supreme Court judgment in the case of Samar Ghosh v Jaya Ghosh [(2007) 4 SCC 511].

“The behaviour of husband demonstrates the state of mind that even for necessary obligation and duty which was cast upon the father to take care of the education of the children, was not fulfilled by him. Perusal of the record would further show that the wife on the earlier occasion filed a suit on the ground of cruelty and similar allegations have been made that because of the excessive drinking, the husband used to abuse and assault and even refused to cater the needs of the children, however, the said application seeking divorce by the wife was withdrawn”, the Bench observed.

Accordingly, the Court allowed the appeal, set aside the judgment of the Family Court, and dissolved the marriage between the Appellant and the respondent with Rs 15,000 per month as maintenance.

Cause Title: Payal Sharma v. Umesh Sharma

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