Indian High Courts Reject Divorce Claims Over Disability and Forced Cohabitation

The Madras High Court dismissed a husband’s petition for divorce on the basis that his wife’s accidental hip injury and resulting disability made marital life untenable. The bench, comprising Justice Anand Venkatesh and Justice K. K. Ramakrishnan, held that “a person who has suffered accidental injuries cannot, by that reason alone, be branded as unfit for married life,” emphasizing constitutional values of equality, dignity and non‑discrimination.

The Kerala High Court likewise upheld a family‑court decree granting divorce, ruling that a husband cannot be compelled to remain in a marriage simply because his wife wishes to resume cohabitation. The division bench, led by Justice J. Nisha Banu and Justice Shoba Annamma Eapen, found the marriage irretrievably broken down amid allegations of cruelty, abuse and psychological harm, and affirmed the earlier judgment.

Both judgments reinforce that physical disability or a spouse’s desire for cohabitation are not legitimate grounds to deny divorce under Indian law.