Bhubaneswar, June 25 -- Ruling that a wife cannot be treated as her husband's property and is free to decide where she wishes to live, the Orissa High Court has dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by a man seeking the release of his wife from alleged illegal detention and imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on him.
"She cannot be treated as a chattel in the hands of her husband. If she has decided to live separately due to the alleged torture perpetrated upon her, this forum cannot be used to secure her presence before this Court and/or in the matrimonial house," a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Murahari Sri Raman observed.
The court found that the woman had voluntarily left her matrimonial home owing to ma...