The Bombay High Court has rejected a man's plea for divorce on the grounds that his wife gained weight after marriage and had kept him in the dark about a surgery that she had undergone earlier.

A division bench of justices Abhay Oka and MS Sonak observed that though the 37-year-old petitioner had made serious allegations, he had failed to substantiate them. "Therefore, it is very difficult to believe the testimony of the appellant," said the HC.

The man had approached the HC after the family court rejected his petition, seeking divorce on the grounds of cruelty in July 2004. The HC first suggested to the couple to settle the matter amicably and gave them three months. However, they were unable to reach any consent terms.

The couple, who met through a marriage bureau, got married in 2000.

GM Savagave, advocate for the man, alleged that the woman had undergone a breast surgery in Mumbai and did not disclose it. Later, she claimed that it was nothing serious, said Savagave.

The husband's petition states that after marriage, the wife started putting on weight. Although the husband tried to persuade her to take medical treatment, she declined to cooperate, thus depriving him pleasures of matrimonial life, alleges the petition.

The man also alleged that she had temper issues, never loved him and insulted him in front of her friends. She even once threatened to kill herself so that he landed in jail, states the husband's petition.

Apeksha Vora, the wife's advocate, argued that there was no column for disclosing information regarding the surgery in the form provided by the marriage bureau. She claimed that her client's family had informed the groom's family about the issue.

The court arrived at the decision taking into account the husband's testimony before the family court where he had admitted that the marriage was consummated. "He admitted that the Respondent (wife) had taken initiative for maintaining physical relations," observed the HC judges, throwing away the cruelty allegation.

As regards the man's charges of his wife being quarrelsome, the court said it was his word against hers and tiffs between couple were "the normal wear and tear of marriage".