Read Time: 07 minutes

Synopsis

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a woman’s appeal challenging the dissolution of her marriage, ruling that her vulgar conversations with other men constituted mental cruelty towards her husband, justifying the grant of divorce on grounds of cruelty.

Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Gajendra Singh, presiding over the Indore bench of the High Court, observed: “No husband would tolerate that his wife is in conversation through mobile by way of these type of vulgar chatting. After marriage husband and wife both have freedom to have a conversation by way of mobile, chatting and other means with friends but the level of conversation should be decent and dignified , specially when it is with an opposite gender, which may not objectionable to the life partner. If despite objection husband or wife continues with such activity of activities , then certainly it causes mental cruelty.”

The couple married in December, 2018, under Hindu customs. The husband (respondent), a bank manager with partial hearing impairment, alleged that his wife (appellant) mistreated his mother and used to address her as 'mother of deaf' (बहरे क मां). It was also alleged that the wife left the matrimonial home within 1.5 months, and refused to return.

The husband further accused his wife of having explicit WhatsApp conversations with former lovers, discussing past physical relations. He claimed that she had threatened to implicate him in false cases. In support of his claims, the husband presented WhatsApp chat transcripts, a police complaint, and a written admission from the wife’s father, who stated that his daughter’s conduct had brought shame to the family. The family court, after evaluating the evidence, ruled in the husband's favour, granting him a divorce on grounds of mental cruelty on June 24, 2023.

The wife, in response, denied all allegations, claiming her husband Husband has violated her right of privacy by procuring the chatting from her mobile. She further alleged that her husband hacked her phone and fabricated evidence. She accused him of domestic violence and dowry demands of ₹25 lakh. However, during cross-examination, she admitted submitting an apology at Neelganga police station on September 2, 2020. Her father, a senior advocate, did not dispute his earlier statement confirming her frequent chats with male friends.

The High Court upheld the family court’s ruling, emphasising that “It is not expected from a wife or husband to indulge into in to the undignified or indecent conversation by way of chatting with a male or female friends as the case may be that too after marriage.”

The court further held that continuing such conduct despite objections amounts to mental cruelty, warranting the dissolution of marriage. “The respondent has certainly make out the case by way of evidence that the appellant committed mentally cruelty upon him,” the court stated.

Conclusively, the court held that the appeal was liable to be dismissed stating that “the appellant has failed to point out any perversity in the findings recorded by the family court.”

Accordingly, the court affirmed the family court’s ruling and dismissed the wife’s appeal, upholding the divorce decree.

 

Case Number: FIRST APPEAL No. 1605 of 2023

Appearance: Advocate Yash Pal Rathore represented the appellant-wife, while Senior Advocate Virendra Sharma, assisted by Advocate Satish Yadav, appeared for the respondent-husband.