No Husband Would Tolerate Wife's 'Vulgar Chatting' Over Phone: Madhya Pradesh HC Upholds Divorce On Ground Of Mental Cruelty
While upholding the verdict passed by the Family Court, the Indore Bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court held that despite husband's objections, if a wife is involved in vulgar chatting with other men, it would amount to mental cruelty and a ground for divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
A division bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Gajendra Singh observed, “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. 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, especially 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 present appeal was filed by the Appellant-wife under Section 19(1) of Family Court Act, 1984 against the judgment passed by the Additional Principal Judge, Family Court, Ujjain allowing the petition filed under Section 13 of Hindu Marriage Act by the respondent-husband, thereby dissolving their marriage which was solemnized in 2018.
According to the Respondent, immediately after marriage the appellant started misbehaving with his mother. After one and a half months of the marriage, the appellant went to her father's house and refused to come back. It was further alleged that even after marriage the appellant used to talk with her two old lovers on mobile. The Respondent found the chats vulgar in nature. The appellant used to discuss her physical relationship with husband over Whatsapp chats.
Thereafter, the respondent made a written complaint to the police that the appellant used to threaten him for implication in a false case. According to the respondent, a compromise was arrived and she gave in writing that she would not give any chance to blame in future. Appellant's father, an advocate also gave his statement in writing to the police admitting that his daughter has been indulging into the chats with other male friends which ashamed all the family members.
The respondent approached the Family Court under Section 13 of Hindu Marriage Act seeking dissolution of marriage.
The appellant opposed the divorce petition by contending that the allegations are false and concocted. It was submitted that the respondent had hacked her mobile and sent all those messages to the two alleged lovers of the appellant to create evidence to level false and baseless allegations and in doing so, the Respondent-Husband has violated her right of privacy. Thereafter, by way of special pleadings, she made an allegation against the respondent-husband about beating, insulting, demanding dowry of Rs.25 Lacs etc.
After evaluating the evidence on record, the Family Court granted the decree of divorce on the ground of mental cruelty.
The High Court noted that the father of the appellant had admitted that his daughter had been in the habit of talking to male friends and due to which he was ashamed. The documents regarding the same were exhibited before the Family Court which the appellant did not deny in entirety. “The learned family court has observed that father of the appellant is a practicing lawyer having 40-50 years standing in the Bar but he did not enter into the witness box to deny his statement given to the police.”, the Court said.
The Court further inferred from the printout of the chatting of the appellant with the two alleged lovers that the conversations were indecent.
The Court further noted that there was no counter blast by way of FIR or complain of the Domestic violence etc. against the respondent, which clearly establishes the fact that the allegations of the respondent against wife were correct.
The Court opined that no husband would tolerate that his wife is in conversation through mobile by way of these type of vulgar chatting. Thus, the Court held that despite husband's objections, if wife continues with such kind of activities, it amounts to mental cruelty.
The judgement passed by the Family Court was upheld and the appeal was hence, dismissed.
Case Title: R Versus S, First Appeal No. 1605 Of 2023