Bombay HC says wife not a ‘deemed maid’, failing to do chores, not cruelty

Key points

• Bombay High Court at Mumbai is one of the oldest High Courts of India MUMBAI: “Mere failure of wife to do chores such as cooking, cleaning does not automatically amount to cruelty as marriage is a partnership of equals and not a service contract and the wives are not ‘deemed maids’,” said Bombay High Court this month, dismissing a husband’s plea for divorce on grounds of cruelty.
• A wife’s refusal to perform daily chores does not qualify as mental cruelty, said Justices Bharti Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande in a May 8 judgment and set aside a 2010 Bandra family court decree of divorce and order denying her maintenance.The HC said the family court's denial of maintenance relied on a solitary ad issued by the wife of a “art and craft” class;
• however, “there is no reliable material to establish” that such activity translated into a regular or sufficient source of...