Telangana High Court: Wife Is Not a Maid, Divorce Cannot Be Sought for Not Cooking

The Telangana High Court has delivered a strong and progressive judgment on marriage and gender roles, clearly stating that a wife is not a maid and that a working woman’s inability to cook food cannot be treated as cruelty.

The Court dismissed a divorce petition filed by a Hyderabad-based man who sought separation from his wife, an IT professional, mainly because she did not cook food regularly and did not help his mother with household chores. The husband, himself a law graduate, also made allegations of unfaithfulness and mental harassment.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice Nagesh Bhimpaka carefully examined the facts and rejected the husband’s claims. The judges noted that both spouses were working in private jobs with demanding and mismatched work schedules.

As per the court records, the husband left for work in the afternoon and returned late at night, while the wife started her day early, managed basic household tasks, went to office by morning, and returned in the evening. In such circumstances, the Court held that expecting daily cooking from the wife was unreasonable. The inability to cook due to work pressure was described as a normal marital issue, not cruelty.

The Court also clarified that complaints from a mother-in-law about lack of household assistance cannot legally amount to “mental cruelty.” Importantly, the judges took note of the fact that the wife had stayed at her parents’ home for valid reasons, as she was recovering both physically and emotionally after a miscarriage.

The allegation that the wife forced the husband to live separately was also dismissed. The Court observed that the suggestion of separate residence came from the wife’s lawyer during cross-examination, and not from the wife herself.

Through this ruling, the Telangana High Court sent a clear message that marriage cannot be broken over minor domestic disagreements, especially in today’s changing social and work environment. The judgment reinforces that equality, understanding, and mutual respect are central to married life.