AHMEDABAD: A working woman has approached the
Gujarat high court
raising the issue whether
visiting
her husband two weekends in a month amounts to fulfilling her
conjugal obligations
or not.
The woman approached the high court earlier this month after the husband sued her in a family court in Surat last year invoking section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act for restitution of
conjugal rights
by seeking directions to his wife to come and live with him daily.
The husband submitted before the family court that his wife does not live with him on an everyday basis. After the birth of their son, she continued to live with her parents on the pretext of her job.
The husband submitted that he was also aggrieved by the fact that the wife visits him only during the second and fourth weekends in a month, and lives at her paternal house during the rest of the month.
The husband also complained that his wife continued her job while ignoring the son's health and depriving the husband of conjugal rights.
In response, the wife filed an application in family court under Rule 7 Order 11 of the civil procedure code and urging the court to junk the husband's suit as not maintainable. She said she visits the matrimonial home regularly, on two weekends each month, and the husband's claim that she has abandoned him and needs to be directed to live with him is thus wrong.
On September 25, the family court rejected the wife's objection and said that the claims made would need a full-fledged trial and the issue could not be decided at the pre-trial stage.
Before the HC, the woman's lawyer argued that Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act says a person can be directed to fulfil conjugal obligation, if she has withdrawn from the society of her spouse. In this case, the wife visits her matrimonial home every second weekend and the husband cannot claim that she has withdrawn from his society.
Justice V D Nanavati inquired, "What is wrong if the husband asks his wife to come and stay with him? Does he not have the right to sue?" The judge said the issue requires consideration, and asked the husband to respond by January 25.
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