LAW CENTRE -1

FACULTY OF LAW
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI

Induction Moot Court Competition 2015

Release date: 24.09.2015

Rajesh and Meera were college sweethearts and graduated together from Law Campus-1, Faculty
of Law, University of Indraprastha in the year 2007. They went up to be colleagues in a prestigious
Legal Firm situated in Gurpur, both had similar profile and pay in the firm. Meera’s family
members, even after being opulent, were very much against this relation as Rajesh belonged to a
different caste. However, amongst the opposition, the couple decided to settle down together. On
14th February, 2010 they got married as per Hindu Rites and Rituals in the presence of only
Rajesh’s family members and relatives as Meera’s Parents and relatives boycotted the marriage.
The Marriage fulfilled all the conditions mentioned in Section 5 and 7 of ‘The Hindu Marriage Act,
1955’ and was validly registered as per Section 8 of the same Act.

Two months after the solemnization of Marriage, Meera got a promotion and became a “Women
Director” of the legal firm due to her diligent hard work however Rajesh was not promoted. After
promotion the work load for Meera increased and she neglected household chores as she was busy
making presentations, reading reports and sending emails. This conduct affected the matrimonial
bond because Rajesh was not taken care of and had to manage his office and home single-handedly.
Meera was either busy with the work or with her socialising on facebook and twitter as it was part
and parcel of her new post.

Envy and frustration was visible in Rajesh’s conduct and he started ill treating Meera. Minor
conflicts became a day to day scene in their matrimonial home. The couple started having
temperamental differences and even trivial clashes became major ones resulting in matrimonial
discord on a daily basis. Meera was trying her best to reconcile the matter but it grew worse with
every passing day.

Just after 6 months of their marriage, Meera, during her pregnancy, left the matrimonial home
and went back to her parental home. On 16th December, 2010 she gave birth to a baby boy, on
receiving this news, Rajesh rushed to the hospital with sweets and presents with an expectation to
bury the hatchet and to get Meera and the new born back to the matrimonial home. But, he was
persona non grata in the hospital by the family members and even Meera disallowed him to even
see the baby’s face.

** Drafted By Asif Zamir (Student Convenor 2014-15, MCS).

 Discouraged by this episode Rajesh made no further efforts to reconcile the marital dispute.
Months passed but there was no attempt made by either side to reconstruct the marriage.

After staying apart for almost a year, in July 2011, Rajesh filed a petition as per Section 13(1)(ia)
of The Hindu Marriage Act,1955 and claimed ‘mental cruelty’ to be the ground for seeking decree
of divorce in the Family Court, Gurpur. Meera also contended in the same suit that cruelty was
inflicted on her and she was the sufferer not Rajesh. Despite being pregnant, she was mentally
tortured and abused due to cultural differences and after bearing it for a long time she left the
matrimonial house. The Family Judge appreciated the contentions put forth by Meera and
disallowed the relief of divorce sought by Rajesh, as a wrongdoer cannot take advantage of his
wrong as per Section 23 (1) (a) of Hindu Marriage Act,1955 and held him guilty of ‘mental
cruelty’.

After being aggrieved by this Judgment, Rajesh appealed against it in the Wallahabad High
Court. The High Court overruled the judgment of the Family court and held that the husband is not
taking advantage of his own wrong as per Section 23 (1) (a) of Hindu Marriage Act,1955 as it is the
wife who is denying him the matrimonial comforts at home. She is running away from her marital
obligations in the garb of her official responsibility. However, it granted Meera a certificate to
appeal to the Supreme Court of Cindia.

The matter is listed in the Supreme Court of Cindia for final hearing on 10 th October, 2015. The
laws in the Country Cindia is pari passu to the laws of Union of India. The Counsels are requested
to argue the case completely and cover all the issues either from Rajesh’s side or Meera’s side
(participants are NOT supposed to argue from both sides).

*Disclaimer: The names, places and other events depicted in the moot problem are purely
fictitious and are used only for the academic purpose of a Moot Court Competition. Any similarity
to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.