The Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld the divorce order despite the wife's petition, emphasizing the cruelty it would inflict on her to demand that her husband abandon her 75-year-old mother and mentally ill sister.

In her petition, the wife, a resident of Haryana, recounted that her marriage in 1999 marked the beginning of a deteriorating relationship between her and her husband.

By 2016, they had been living separately, along with their two daughters.

The husband had initiated divorce proceedings in the family court during the same year, culminating in a verdict favoring him in 2019, which granted the divorce.

The High Court said that the husband and wife have been living separately since 2016 and their relationship has never improved during this period; hence, there is no hope that if they live together, they will be able to live a normal married life.

The petitioner is not willing to live with her old mother-in-law and mentally challenged sister-in-law and expects her husband to leave her mother and sister, which is cruel.

There is every reason to believe that the marital relationship between the petitioner and her husband has ended emotionally.

During the proceedings, the court observed that the wife may want to live separately for her own reasons, otherwise, she might try to adjust to the husband.

The High Court said, it appears that the wife is not interested in marital happiness. It is clear that the marriage between both parties has failed and that the marital alliance cannot improve. If the divorce is set aside, then it will amount to forcing them to live together further, which will amount to mental stress and cruelty.

In addition to affirming the divorce, the court noted the absence of any maintenance allowance granted to the woman by the family court.

Consequently, while granting the wife the right to claim permanent alimony, the High Court directed the husband to pay an interim permanent alimony of Rs 5 lakh within three months.