Rita and Girish (not their real names) lived through 16 years of a rocky marriage, but the last straw for Rita was Girish’s decision to move to New Delhi.
Rita and Girish (not their real names) lived through 16 years of a rocky marriage, but the last straw for Rita was Girish’s decision to move to New Delhi. The age-old battle of one-upmanship between the cities appears to have dealt a deadly blow to the couple’s 16-year marriage. Girish is seeking restitution of his conjugal rights and urging his wife and two children to move to the national capital, where he works in a multinational pharmaceutical firm.
But Rita has put her foot down, saying she will not leave Mumbai at any cost. The couple tied the knot in 1988 and had a daughter and son. But their relationship began souring when Rita found Girish to be overly dominating. “She was a housewife then,” said Rita’s advocate Mrinalinee Deshmukh. “She also felt that he did not provide her with sufficient money to run their home.”
But in 2004, when Girish decided to shift to Delhi in pursuit of career business opportunities, Rita decided to separate from him. “Once settled in Mumbai, people can be very reluctant to leave the city,” explained Deshmukh. “They may not want to leave at all.”
Though this was a major reason for the marriage to fall apart, it was not the only one, said Deshmukh. The couple’s daughter is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business management while the son studies in Std IV. Rita now works in the television industry. The couple has been living apart since 2004.
The issue before the Bombay high court is, however, a technical point of law. After separation, Girish moved court in 2005 for restitution of his conjugal rights. A year later, Rita moved court for divorce. Whether a petition seeking divorce can be heard when another seeking restitution of the marriage is pending is what the court has to decide.
Rita’s counsel has urged the court to hear both petitions together to avoid multiplicity of litigation. “The court permitted the applications to be clubbed, but it will, of course, want to consider if the couple is willing to live together again,” Deshmukh said.
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