Read Time: 07 minutes

Synopsis

In a recent judgment, the Allahabad High Court emphasized that claims of mental illness, such as schizophrenia, are insufficient alone to dissolve a marriage under Section 13(1)(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act without conclusive evidence of severity. 

Section 13 (1) (iii) of the H.M. Act does not make mere existence of a mental disorder of any degree sufficient in law to justify dissolution of a marriage, asserted the bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Om Prakash Shukla.

Court clarified that the contest in which the ideas of unsoundness of mind and mental disorder occur in Section as ground for dissolution of a marriage, requires assessment of the degree of mental disorder and its degree must be such that the spouse seeking relief cannot reasonably be expected to live with the other.

"All mental abnormalities are not recognized as grounds for grant of decree," the bench said. 

It further said that the personality disintegration that characterizes schizophrenia may be of varying degrees and that not all schizophrenics are characterized by same intensity of disease.

"The burden of proof of existence of requisite degree of mental disorder is on the spouse who bases his or her claim on such a medical condition," court asserted.

The observations were made in an appeal by a man, who sought a divorce from his wife, citing her alleged mental illness and prolonged separation since 2012.

The man initially filed a suit for divorce before the Family Court arguing that his wife suffered from schizophrenia, which caused her to act erratically and created significant distress in their marriage. He claimed that his wife’s condition, left undisclosed by her family before their 2003 marriage, led to behavior that posed a risk to herself and others.

In defense before the Family Court, the wife disputed her husband’s allegations, denying any history of mental illness and contending that the case was fabricated to justify divorce. She alleged harassment by the man’s family over dowry demands and described herself as having been fulfilling her marital responsibilities until she was ultimately expelled from the home. She argued that her husband had intentionally fabricated the mental illness claims as a basis for divorce.

The Family Court dismissed the suit for divorce stating that the man failed to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate claims of desertion, cruelty, or mental illness severe enough to render the marriage unsustainable.

On appeal, the Allahabad High Court reviewed the evidence, including the fact that wife did not appear to contest the case.

The division bench also noted the lengthy separation between the couple and referenced relevant Supreme Court precedents, highlighting that cruelty can encompass unintentional actions that create an untenable marital environment.

Court opined that the fact of the case revealed that there was willful desertion by the wife without any plausible reasons, which was sufficient for grant of a decree of divorce in favour of the husband.

However, court upheld the Family Court's opinion that the husband had failed to prove the gravity and degree of wife's alleged disease to grant divorce on that ground. 

Accordingly, the high court set aside the Family Court's decision to dismiss the divorce suit and dissolved the marriage of the couple. 

Case Title:  Pawan Kumar Pandey Vs. Sudha