Asking Working Wife to Contribute Salary to Household Is Not Cruelty: Bombay High Court

The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has ruled that asking a working wife to contribute her salary towards household expenses cannot automatically be considered cruelty or an unlawful demand under marital law.

The observation came in a recent judgment delivered by Justice Vrushali Joshi, who quashed an FIR and charge sheet filed against a man and his parents in Nagpur.

The case had been registered at the Mankapur Police Station under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), related to cruelty by a husband or his relatives, and Section 504, dealing with intentional insult intended to provoke a breach of peace. According to the complaint, the wife — a government employee — alleged that she was pressured to hand over her salary because she allegedly did not participate in household work. She accused her husband and in-laws of harassment linked to the issue.

However, after reviewing the allegations and evidence presented in the case, Justice Joshi observed that such claims did not satisfy the essential legal ingredients required to establish cruelty under matrimonial law. The court noted that merely asking a working spouse to contribute financially to household expenses cannot, by itself, be treated as unlawful harassment.

The court further observed that the complaint appeared to stem from marital discord and the deterioration of the relationship between the couple after tensions arose in the marriage. Based on these findings, the court decided to set aside the criminal proceedings against the husband and his parents.

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