Abusive husband can be removed from home: HC

In a landmark judgment of sorts, the Madras High Court noted that if by asking an abusive husband to leave the house, there is peace at home and in the domestic life, then it should be done! And this can be done even if he does not have an alternative accommodation.



According to Justice RN Manjula , courts should not be indifferent to women who fear their husband’s presence in the house.

“When a couple lives under one roof, the conduct of one party to the other is always vital in defining the respect and recognition the family would get from others. If the domestic peace is disturbed due to an unruly act of one party, namely the husband, there need not be any hesitation in giving the practical enforcement for the protection order by removing the husband from the house. In such circumstances I feel the order of the court below needs modification,” said the judgment by Manjula.

According to the judge, orders issued to protect women in domestic violence cases have to be workable and practical. In addition, it was clarified that the protection orders are issued to ensure that the woman is safe in her domestic life.



This judgement came after a wife challenged the order of a district judge who refused to issue orders for her “abusive and unruly” husband to leave their shared household.



The woman, who is herself an advocate by profession, claimed that her husband’s attitude toward her and her work was negative, and that he frequently abused her and created a tense atmosphere at home.

The husband believed that an ideal mother would only look after the children and do housework.



This argument was rejected by the Court saying that if a husband does not allow his wife to be more than a housewife, her life becomes miserable.



The husband’s lack of understanding and respect for her professional commitments developed a hostile attitude toward his wife and his intolerant attitude appears to be causing a negative environment and problems in the parties’ life.



The Madras High Court judge noted that the couple have two children aged about 10 and 6 years. The husband's abusive attitude will only disturb the children. It is not unusual for couples to live under the same roof despite their marriage losing its charm. They may even turn to other ways to manage to live in the same house but it is important that their conduct does not hurt the family peace, but only their personal relationship, there is no harm in allowing the parties to live in the same house until a logical end is given to their marriage.

It was also noted by the bench that the husband had attributed bias against another High Court judge who had issued an order in the case, which resulted in suo motu contempt proceedings being initiated against him.



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