Omar Abdullah's divorce plea dismissed by court

NEW DELHI: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's plea seeking divorce from his estranged wife Payal Abdullah was today dismissed by a court here which said that he had failed to prove irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.

Principal Judge Arun Kumar Arya rejected the politician's plea, saying that he could not prove his claims of "cruelty" or "desertion" which were the grounds alleged by Omar for grant of decree of divorce.

"The petitioner (Omar) has not been able to explain a single circumstance to show that the supervening circumstances have erupted which has made it impossible for him to continue his relationship with the respondent (Payal).

"Rather, evidence shows that they were in continuous contact till the filing of the divorce petition," the court said in its 72-page order, adding that "there is not an iota of evidence in regard to the circumstances which have prevailed to prompt the petitioner to file the divorce plea."

Rejecting the National Conference leader's contention that he was subject to Payal's unreasonable conduct, causing pain and harassment to him, the court said that "he has miserably failed to prove any act of cruelty or irretrievable breakdown of marriage".

It further held that Omar "failed to prove his case for divorce on ground of cruelty."

In his plea seeking divorce from his wife, Omar had claimed that his marriage had broken down irretrievably and he has not enjoyed conjugal relationship since 2007 and that the couple, married on September 1, 1994, were living separately since 2009. The couple have two sons who are staying with their mother.

The petition had also added that Omar was subject to the "unreasonable conduct" of Payal, causing pain and harassment to the politician.