Stop approaching court for petty marital problems: HC

 Vinay Kumar and Chitra (both names changed) are married for seven years and have a daughter studying in second standard. Both these techies are not happy with their married life and have approached the High Court seeking divorce, after a lower court dismissed their plea.

On Thursday, during the hearing of the case, Justice K Bhaktavatsala advised the couple on marriage and asked them to lead a happy married life. Justice Bhaktavatsala said he felt sad whenever couples approach the Court seeking divorce after fighting over petty issues.

“Stop approaching the court for petty marital problems. Many such problems can be solved at the personal level,” the judge observed.

Vinay Kumar said he wants divorce as his wife is not getting along with his family and always harasses him to leave his parents and separate from them. “I don’t want to leave my parents,” he told the court.

However, Chitra was not in a mood to listen and insisted on the divorce. The judge then asked the advocates from both the parties to take them to a nearby hotel and try for a mutual understanding over lunch. Even though the couple agreed for a settlement, post lunch, problems started when Chitra started placing several conditions.

The judge then gave the couple another round of advice and asked them not to act like strangers.

“Small problems do come and go in family life. Don’t damage the life of a child by taking extreme step like divorce. Settling petty problems at personal level not only strengthens your bonding, but also takes our culture to a higher level.”

Learning that the wife had spent most of her time in a foreign country and that most of her arguments were based on that country’s rules, the judge observed that the institution of marriage had an altogether different meaning in India and taking divorce for petty issues had never been our culture. 

Later, when the arguments went on, the Court asked the couple to try for another round of settlement. The judge asked them to come to the court on August 14 with their child and adjourned the case.