Can Husband be asked to leave his own House?

While hearing the plea in the case of [V Anusha v B Krishnan], it was observed by the Justice RN Manjula, that if the wife so fears the presence of her husband that she starts streaming in his presence, then the  Courts cannot merely direct the husband not to harass his wife and allow him to reside in the same house.

It was held that the courts should not be indifferent to women who fear the presence of their husband in the house. The orders which are passed to protect the women from domestic violence shall be practical and workable. 

Facts- 

The court was hearing the plea filed by the wife challenging the orders of the district court, which refused to pass orders to ask her “abusive and unruly” husband to leave the shared household.

The woman who is also an advocate by profession, maintained that her husband’s attitude towards her and her work wasn’t good, also he often abused her and created a tense atmosphere at home.

On the other hand the husband pleaded that an ideal woman shall remain in her house and take care of her children and do her household chores.

The contention of the husband didn’t go well with the Court, which was of the opinion that if the husband doesn’t allow the wife to be something more than just a housewife, her life would become horrible. 

The court observed that, “if a woman chooses to be independent and do something more than being a housewife, and if it is not taken well by her husband, that makes her life horrible by having its repercussions over her personal, familial and professional spheres….. Due to lack of understanding and respect towards the professional commitments of the wife, the husband has developed a hostile attitude towards her. His intolerance seems to be creating squabbles and troubles in the life of the parties”.

Also the husband attributed bias towards another judge of the High Court who had passed an order in the case, resulting in a suo moto case of Contempt of Court being initiated against him.

It was also observed by the Bench that such behaviour of the husband would only disturb and have a negative impact on the children of the couple who are at a very impressionable age of 10 and 6. 

The court opined that it is not unusual  that there are some issues between the couple, they continue to live under the same roof even if there is no charm remaining in their marriage. They could continue to live under the same roof  while ignoring each other or to overlook some of the issues by turning in the other  direction. However, for these conditions, it is necessary that their conduct is not harming their family in any way, but their personal relationship is the only thing which is impacted. 

However, it would be a completely different scenario, if one party unfurls unruly and aggressive behaviour towards the other party. In such an unreasonable and adverse situation the wife and the children can’t be compelled to continue living under the same roof.

It was also observed by the court that in such a scenario where domestic peace is disturbed due to the unruly and aggressive behaviour of the husband, the court shall not in any case hesitate to provide a practical effect to a protection order by removing the husband from the house.

Thus, allowing the husband to remain in the same house, while directing him to not disturb the other inmates of the house is an impractical task. “A relief for a person who fears about an impending time bomb, would be just to remove the bomb from his/her vicinity” the court observed. 

In the light of these observations, the Court directed the Husband to vacate the shared household within a period of two weeks. Liberty was also given to the wife to seek police protection if the husband failed to comply with the order of the court. 

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