Supreme Court Rules Husbands Must Share Household Responsibilities

The Supreme Court of India has declared that husbands must share household responsibilities like cooking and cleaning equally with their wives, reinforcing the concept of marriage as a partnership.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Polina Tankilevitch/Pexels.com

Key Points

The Supreme Court of India stated that husbands must equally participate in household chores.
The court emphasised that marriage is a partnership, not a relationship where one spouse is a servant.
The ruling came during a hearing for a divorce petition where the husband cited the wife's failure to cook as grounds for cruelty.
The Supreme Court has called both parties to be physically present for a hearing on April 27 to discuss the matter further.

The Supreme Court on Friday said a husband has to equally participate in household chores like cooking, cleaning and washing as he is not marrying a maid but a life partner.

The observations came from a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta which was hearing a petition filed by a man challenging an order of the Karnataka High Court.

The high court had set aside a trial court order granting divorce to the man on the ground of cruelty.

During the hearing before the apex court, the counsel appearing for the man said the mediation between the parties had failed.

He said the marriage between the parties took place in May 2017 and since 2019, the couple is separated.

"I (man) want a divorce. The trial court granted a divorce on the ground of cruelty," the counsel said.

The bench asked what the cruelty was as alleged in the matter.

The counsel appearing for the man said the woman had indulged in improper behaviour and was not cooking food.

"You have to equally participate in all these. Cooking, cleaning, washing, everything. Today's times are different," Justice Nath observed, adding the high court was right that it might not be a ground for cruelty.

"You are not marrying a maid. You are marrying a life partner," Justice Mehta observed.

The bench was told that both of them were working in a government school.

"Call both parties physically. We would like to speak to them," the bench said.

It posted the matter for hearing on April 27 and asked both parties to remain present before it.

Disclaimer: News content is sourced from the stated source. Headlines, summaries, section headers, and images are automatically generated or selected using AI/algorithms and may not always be fully accurate. Readers are advised to refer to the full article for complete context.