Fact Check : Media Reports About Madras High Court's "Thali/Mangalsutra" Judgment Are Inaccurate

Great social media outrage has been generated against the Madras High Court following certain newsreports about its judgment in a divorce case. According to several reports, the High Court ruled that removal of Thali(mangalsutra) by the wife is cruelty of the highest order against the husband. Several members of the general public have raised eyebrows at this reported ruling and have taken to social media to express their criticism against the High Court.

The reports relate to the High Court's ruling in the case C Sivakumar v. A Srividhya pronounced on July 5. However, a reading of the judgment will show that such reports are inaccurate and exaggerated (our report about the judgment may be read here). In this case, the High Court has not held that removal of thali by the wife by itself would amount to mental cruelty. In fact, the High Court said the opposite. The Court said that removal of thali by itself cannot be a ground to presume mental cruelty.

The judgment was delivered in an appeal filed by a husband against a Family Court's order which dismissed his petition to divorce his wife. The High Court allowed the husband's appeal for divorce, after taking note of several facts such as the wife suspecting the husband's character, levelling allegations of extra-marital affair against him in front of his colleagues etc. The Court also noted that the wife had filed a police complaint against the husband without any basis. The wife's removal of thali was assessed by the Court in the backdrop of these combination of facts. On an overall assessment of facts, the High Court held that the wife's conduct amounts to "mental cruelty".

What the Court actually said was that the removal of thali by the wife is a piece of evidence in drawing an inference about the intention of the parties. The wife's removal of thali, coupled with other facts, persuaded the Court to reach a conclusion that the parties have no intention to reconcile and continue with the marriage.

The bench of Justice V.M Velumani and Justice S Sounthar observed as under:

After stating so, the Court cited a passage from another judgment of a coordinate bench, in which it was observed that removal of thali amounted to mental cruelty.

The court noted that a coordinate bench in Vallabhi v .R.Rajasabahi in 2016 had on similar instance held that "the removal of "Thali" by the petitioner/wife can be said to be an act which reflected Mental Cruelty of highest order as it could have caused agony and hurted the sentiments of the respondent".

This "thali" observation from the 2016 judgment was made the headline by certain media outlets, and this led to the creation of a hype about the judgment, misleading several members of the general public.

LiveLaw's coverage about the judgment may be read here : Wife Suspecting Husband's Character, Levelling Allegations Of Extra Marital Affair Before His Colleagues Amounts To Cruelty: Madras High Court