Man Can Divorce Wife If Denied Sex for Long Period, Rules Delhi HC

The court said that denying sex amounts to mental cruelty.

Denying sex amounts to mental cruelty, the Delhi High Court has ruled. (Photo: iStock)

In a ruling on Wednesday, the Delhi High Court said that any woman denying sex to her husband for a long time without any justification amounts to mental cruelty – and is a ground for divorce.

The verdict came on a petition by a husband seeking divorce, complaining that his wife had subjected him to mental cruelty by not allowing him to have physical relations for four-and-a-half years.

The High Court allowed the husband's appeal, granting a decree of divorce to him. It noted that the wife in a trial court had not specifically denied the allegation.

The husband has fully established that he was subjected to mental cruelty by the wife by denying sex to him for a long period, despite living under the same roof, without any justification, and though she was not suffering from any physical disability.

A bench of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Rani

The couple was married on 26 November, 2001 in Haryana, and they had two sons aged 13 and 12 years.