Allahabad High Court Rules Job-Related Separation Not Grounds For Divorce

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that separation due to job commitments does not constitute abandonment. This decision came while rejecting a divorce petition filed by a husband against his wife.

Court’s Findings on Abandonment

The division bench, comprising Justice SD Singh and Justice Donadi Ramesh, addressed the case of Arvind Singh Sengar vs. Mrs. Prabha Singh. The couple married in 1999 and had a child in 2000. The husband, a loco pilot in Jhansi, and the wife, an assistant teacher in Auraiya, lived separately due to their jobs. The family court in Kanpur Nagar previously dismissed the husband’s divorce petition, ruling that the separation did not indicate abandonment.

History of Legal Proceedings

The husband initially filed a marriage replacement petition in 2004, which resulted in a unilateral order. However, the court canceled this order in 2006 upon the wife’s appeal. Afterward, the husband accused the wife of abandonment and cruelty in his divorce filing. The wife argued that the husband had supported her during her illness in 2003 by facilitating her medical leave. The family court found that the husband was aware of his wife’s efforts to secure employment, reinforcing the decision to deny the divorce request.

The court upheld the family court’s ruling, confirming that job-related separation does not imply abandonment in this context.

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