Chennai: The Madras high court, hearing a property dispute between a man’s two wives, observed on Saturday that a husband choosing to transfer his affection to another woman after several years of marriage to one woman , was guilty of matrimonial injury and cruelty.
Rejecting the claim of the man’s second wife that the first had only limited rights to enjoy his property after his death and could not sell it as she had done, Justice S. Vimala said the very fact that the husband had chosen to transfer his affection to another woman after 26 years of marriage amounted to matrimonial injury and cruelty. It provided a recognised ground for the first wife to seek maintenance and even divorce, she observed. “The conferment of property will not and cannot lessen her distress or her feelings of neglect. Another woman intruding into her matrimonial life is not a tolerable pain and the alleged consent which has not proved to be voluntary, cannot exonerate her husband from paying maintenance. Even assuming the consent was voluntary, there can be no consent for performing an illegal act, as bigamy is a punishable offence under IPC,” the judge said.
“Under such circumstances, if the interpretation that the woman will get only limited right is given, it will amount to encouraging more men to create broken families. If gender bias is to be eliminated, then the woman must get absolute right under the transaction. Any other interpretation would take women and society from e-age to stone-age,” she added.
