ORDER QUASHED

Man must prove why he had to leave wife: HC

Shibu Thomas TNN 

Mumbai: The onus is on a man to prove that he had very good reasons for leaving his wife, the Bombay high court has ruled. Two years after a family court dismissed a Goregaon resident Seema Holkar’s plea, seeking restitution of conjugal rights, and granted divorce to her husband, Prashant Holkar, on the grounds that it was the wife’s responsibility to prove that he was not justified in leaving her, the high court said the order was based on a wrong interpretation of the law. 
 
    Prashant moved the family court in 2010, seeking divorce. Seema later sought maintenance and restoration of conjugal rights. But when the family court rejected her claims, she filed an appeal in the high court.  “The edifice on which the family court’s judgment rests cannot stand the test of judicial scrutiny,” said a division bench of Justice A M Khanwilkar and Justice A R Joshi. The judges referred to section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, which deals with an application filed for the restoration of marriage rights by a man or woman, whose spouse has left him/her. It says, “Where a question arises whether there has been reasonable excuse for withdrawal from society, the burden of proving the excuse shall be on the person who has withdrawn from the society.” 
 
    For the present case, the HC said, “The husband must establish that there was reasonable excuse for him for withdrawal from the society of the wife. The onus in establishing it is on the husband in the proceeding filed by the wife for the restitution of conjugal rights.” Quashing the trial court’s judgment, the HC relegated the matter to the family court to reconsider Seema’s plea. The HC also told Prashant to continue paying maintenance that will cover their Goregaon home’s EMI, flat maintenance, bills and the educational expenses of their minor son. (Names changed to protect identity).

Source::: The Times of India, 14-07-2012, p.3. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW