Divorce — Adultery Pleading & Breakdown of Marriage · 2 September 2026

Madras High Court: A Husband Working Away From Home Isn't to Blame for a Wife's Adultery, But Grants Divorce for Irretrievable Breakdown

High Court of Judicature at Madras (Madurai Bench) · 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 420

A husband sought divorce from his wife on the ground of adultery, but had not made her alleged partner a party to the case — a procedural defect the Family Court could have dismissed the plea for outright. Instead, the Family Court went further and held that the husband was effectively responsible for the situation, reasoning that by leaving his wife behind to work in Mumbai rather than living with her, he had himself created the conditions for her alleged infidelity, and on that basis refused him a divorce.

The Madras High Court disagreed with that reasoning, holding that it is not always practical for a husband to keep his wife with him at his place of employment, and that fault could not be assigned to him on that footing alone. It did not, however, rule on the adultery allegation itself, since the missing party made that ground legally unsustainable. Instead, noting that the couple had already lived apart for 16 years with no attempt by either side to reconcile, the Court held the marriage had irretrievably broken down and that continuing it would only prolong mutual cruelty. It granted the divorce on that basis and directed the husband to pay the wife ₹7 lakh as alimony.

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