Defamatory Complaints to Spouse’s Employer Amount to Cruelty: Delhi HC
Court held that the Family Court had rightly dissolved the marriage, having found that the allegations of cruelty were proved on the basis of the evidence adduced by the respondent-husband;
The Delhi High Court has recently held that making defamatory remarks in the form of complaints to the employer of the spouse amounts to cruelty.
A division bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Renu Bhatnagar upheld a Family Court’s order granting a decree of divorce in favour of the husband and dismissed the appeal filed by the wife challenging the decision.
The bench observed, “Irrespective of the merits of these complaints, and regardless of whether the allegations made therein were false or true, we find that making such derogatory and defamatory remarks in the form of complaints to the employer of the spouse are nothing but cruelty.”
The couple had tied the knot on May 7, 1989. Two children were born out of wedlock, a son and a daughter. The appellant-wife stated that the husband sold the matrimonial house without informing her and that she raised the children on her own, incurring substantial debts in the process.
She further alleged that the husband filed a divorce petition based on false allegations of adultery, naming one Mr A.K. Tangri. According to her, the complaints made to the husband’s employer, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), were acts of desperation, driven by years of neglect.
On the other hand, the husband alleged that he was subjected to physical and mental cruelty by the appellant. He claimed that she had filed numerous frivolous complaints and initiated litigation against him before various local authorities and higher officials at BPCL, his employer.
Court rejected the wife's contention that her complaints to the employer stemmed out of desperation. It added, “The complaints made by her to the employer of the respondent, more specifically of the unfounded allegation of adultery, cannot be treated so as to address the issues of any wrong done to her, as the employer of the respondent has nothing to do with all such wrongs and lead to the irresistible conclusion that they were made to harass the respondent-husband and to humiliate him in his workplace before his colleagues.”
Upholding the Family Court’s decision, the High Court held that the Family Court had rightly dissolved the marriage, having found that the allegations of cruelty were proved on the basis of the evidence adduced by the respondent-husband.
The HC added, “Furthermore, the fact that the parties have been living separately for a long period of time, that is, around fifteen years now, without any resumption of marital cohabitation, can also be considered as an added ground while deciding the divorce petition.”
Concluding the judgment, the Court said, “In view of the foregoing discussion of facts and law, we find no infirmity in the impugned judgment passed by the learned Family Court. The appeal is, accordingly, dismissed.”
Case Title: X v. Y
Judgment Date: July 1, 2025
Bench: Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Renu Bhatnagar