Mumbai, Oct. 29 -- Observing that prolonged separation can, in itself, amount to mental cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA), the Bombay High Court has set aside a 2019 family court order refusing to grant a man divorce from his wife. The couple had been living separately for the past 12 years. "The marital relationship has only become more bitter and acrimonious over the years. To keep the facade of this broken marriage alive would be doing injustice to both parties," the court said. The 31-year-old Mankhurd man, who challenged the family court's order before the High Court, had married the 25-year-old woman in 2013 following Buddhist rituals. He told the court that while the first six months of their marriage were cordial, their relationship soon deteriorated. The husband alleged that his wife blamed him for her miscarriage, and that she deserted him in September 2014 and returned to her parents' home. The husband told the court that his wife had informed him on Valentine's Day that she loved another man, cancelling the celebration plans he had made. She later denied it, he said. The court noted that there were "diametrically opposite versions" of the wife's claims regarding her alleged extramarital relationship. Family elders also intervened in an attempt to resolve the differences between the couple. However, the wife's filing of a NC complaint and a criminal complaint with the Navi Mumbai police's special cell for women and children created further obstacles to reconciliation. A division bench comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Ashish Chavan held that the husband had established cruelty and desertion on the wife's part, observing that the marriage was "beyond repair". The bench said, "The prolonged separation in itself is mental cruelty as can be seen from the various judicial pronouncements."...