Obligatory for Indian woman to serve elderly in-laws: Jharkhand HC

Jharkhand High Court observed that it is both a cultural practice and an obligation for women in India to serve their elderly mothers-in-law and grandmothers-in-law, and not to insist on “unreasonable demand to live separately”.

The court was hearing a plea filed by a man against a family court order directing him to pay a sum of Rs 30,000 per month to his wife and Rs 15,000 to his minor son.

The man, who is an assistant professor, filed the plea in the Jharkhand High Court against the order of a Family Court in Dumka claiming that the lower court “failed to consider the conduct” of his wife, who is a medical doctor.

The High Court held that the woman was not entitled to maintenance as she refused to live with her husband without reasonable cause. The court, however, increased the maintenance amount for the son to Rs 25,000 per month.

Justice Subhash Chand said it was unreasonable for the wife to insist on living separately from her in-laws.

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The judge referred to Article 51A of the Constitution, which deals with the fundamental duties of citizens, one of which is “to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture”, according to Live Law.

“It is the culture in India to serve the old aged mother-in-law or grandmother-in-law, as the case may be, by the wife, in order to preserve this culture,” the court said.

The wife left her matrimonial home in 2018. The husband then filed for judicial separation under the Hindu Marriage Act, claiming that the wife had refused to take care of his mother and maternal grandmother and pressured him to leave the family home.

The woman alleged that her husband and in-laws subjected her to cruelty and tortured her for dowry reported Bar & Bench.

However, the court said that she had no valid grounds to live away from her family.

“In the Constitution of India…the fundamental duties of the citizens of India are enumerated…it is provided ‘to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture’. It is the culture in India to serve the old mother-in-law or grandmother-in-law as the case may be by the wife in order to preserve this culture. It was obligatory on the part of the wife to serve her husband’s mother and maternal grandmother and not to insist on unreasonable demands to live separate from his old-aged mother-in-law and the maternal grandmother-in-law. Accordingly, the point of determination number 1 (sufficient cause in living separately) is decided in favour of the petitioner-husband and against the opposite party, ie wife,” Justice Subhash Chand of the Jharkhand High Court said, reported The Indian Express.

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