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Refusing to interfere with the family court's order, the division bench of the high court dismissed the woman's appeal while stating that the order was “well reasoned” and based on “cogent grounds”
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday upheld a family court's order granting divorce to a man on the ground of "immense mental cruelty" by his wife.
A division bench comprising of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna observed that “false allegations of illicit relationship” are the “ultimate kind of cruelty” as it reflects a complete breakdown of “trust and faith” amongst the spouses without which no matrimonial relationship can survive.
The court made the observation while upholding a family court’s order of January 28, 2019 granting divorce to a man on the ground of “mental cruelty” by his wife.
The bench said that any “denial of cohabitation” by other spouses amounts to severe cruelty.
It noted that “no evidence” whatsoever had led to establish that the man ever had any illicit relationship. “This is almost like a final nail in the matrimonial relationship”, it observed.
The court also said that there was “no reason” to disbelieve the man’s testimony that the appellant used to go away for a period of 15 days to 30 days at times without informing the respondent (husband) and that she also withheld herself from cohabitation. “This conduct was compounded by appellant’s (woman) frequently leaving the matrimonial home”, it added.
“Regular quarrels may be trivial when considered individually, however, collectively, these quarrels on a regular basis can not only disrupt the mental peace but also become a source of mental agony”, the court said.
The court further said, “These constant threats of suicide by the appellant or of poisoning the respondent and his parents may not have been successful, but there cannot be a bigger mental torture than to be in a continuous fear or threat to security and life of the appellant and the respondent. The threat of suicide not only took a toll on the respondent but also impacted the conjugality of a matrimonial relationship”.
“….it is evident that the attempt of the Respondent to commit suicide by attempting to jump from the balcony squarely amounts to mental cruelty”, the bench observed.
The court while dismissing the appeal of the woman said that the impugned judgment of the Family court was “well-reasoned” and based on the “cogent grounds”.
“The learned Judge, Family Court has rightly relied upon all these incidents discussed above, to conclude that it was a case of immense mental cruelty, entitling the respondent/husband to a decree of divorce under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. We find that the impugned judgment is well reasoned and is based on the cogent grounds. Therefore, there is no reason to interfere with the impugned judgment”, the bench held.
Case Title: Lata Kumari v. Om Prakash Mandal
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