Supreme Court rules long separation amounts to mental cruelty
After more than 15 years apart, the Supreme Court has decided that living separately with no effort to fix things counts as mental cruelty, enough for a divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act.
The couple, both government doctors, married in 2007 but only lived together for a few months before going their own ways: she worked in Gujarat, he stayed in Rajasthan.
Court cites mutual abandonment, ends marriage
The judges pointed out that their separate lives and lack of contact showed mutual abandonment.
During their short time together, the wife locked her room at night and didn't dispute it, a sign things weren't working.
With no children and both financially independent, the court dismissed the wife's appeal and officially ended the marriage using Article 142(1), saying there were no wider consequences from this split.