Those of us “in the trenches” have heard it all. When you are a Family lawyer specializing in divorce, you hear all kinds of real-life scenarios where spouses come up with unique – and sometimes wacky – reasons to divorce each other.
We covered a past case where a newly-married Egyptian husband sought to divorce his wife after only a month, because he felt “deceived” about her appearance. It seems that during their courtship she wore heavy make-up, but once they got married she stopped, and the husband did not find her “real face” attractive.
Now we have a case out of India, where a husband reportedly wants to divorce his wife because she only cooks instant noodles for him. As reported in the media the man claimed that at every single mealtime, she prepared Maggi brand instant noodles for him. Apparently the wife did not even know how to cook anything else, and this was the only thing she ever bought when she went grocery shopping.
Unfortunately, the man may not be liberated from that one-item menu for a while yet. Under the laws of India, “bad cooking” is not a valid ground for divorce; instead, couples must undergo a one-year separation period before their legal union can be dissolved.
This is similar to the law in Canada, where there is also a prerequisite one-year period of living “separate and apart”, as one of the three ways to establish a “breakdown of the marriage” as required under the federal Divorce Act. The other two ways involve establishing either adultery, or else physical or mental cruelty. (And – no – serving instant noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner does not count.)
