The Supreme Court has said if a man has to lead a peaceful matrimonial life, he has to follow the “diktats of his wife”. The suggestion came on Tuesday in the course of hearing into a case of matrimonial discord involving an Air Force official, Deepak Kumar, who has complained that his estranged wife, Manisha, has ruined him and his family by implicating them in false criminal cases, including sodomy.

A vacation bench comprising Justices Markandeya Katju and Deepak Verma observed, “Biwi joh bolti hai woh suno (listen to whatever your wife says), as otherwise it could land you in trouble. Because if you do not listen to her, you will suffer the consequences.”

The Bench further said a husband had to accept the suggestion of a wife whether it was sensible or not. “If your wife asks you to put your face that side, put it that side. If she says, put it this side, then put it this side. Otherwise you will face trouble.”

“Hum sab bhogi hain (we are all sufferers),” the bench said in a lighter vein.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that although Manisha had implicated her husband and his family in a host of criminal cases, she was opposing the divorce despite the marriage breaking down.

While a lower court in Chandigarh had dismissed Kumar’s plea for divorce as Manisha opposed it, later, in an appeal, a single-judge bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had granted a decree of judicial separation.

... contd.