Estranged Wife Taking Recourse To Law By Initiating Legal Action Not Cruelty Against Husband: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Thursday observed that the act of an estranged wife taking recourse to law by initiating legal action and filing petitions will not amount to cruelty qua the husband.

“Merely because appellant (estranged wife) had taken recourse to law by initiating legal action before a court of law, it would not amount to cruelty. Taking recourse to law, cannot be, by any stretch of imagination, labeled as an instance of cruelty,” a division bench of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Manoj Jain said.

The court made the observation while allowing a wife’s appeal against a Family Court order dismissing her application challenging the husband’s petition seeking dissolution of marriage on the ground of cruelty.

It was her case that the husband had filed a new petition which was based on the same cause of action which were averred by him in his previous petition seeking divorce filed in 2013. The previous petition was withdrawn in 2016 and a new petition was filed claiming that he was fed up of legal battles between him and his wife. It was the wife’s case that in view of the unconditional withdrawal of previous petition, the husband had no reason or occasion to have filed a new petition on same ground.

Dismissing the husband’s new petition, the bench observed that the plea was based on the same cause of action and therefore, its institution was barred under Order XXIII Rule 1(4) of CPC as also on the principles of issue estoppel and cause of action estoppel.

“No new instance of cruelty has been cited in the subject petition and as noticed hereinabove, merely because the appellant had knocked the doors of the Court for redressal of her grouse and grievances, it would not imply that she had inflicted any cruelty upon her husband. Resultantly, the application moved by the appellant under section 151 CPC deserves to be allowed,” the court said.

It added: “Appellant (wife) had to take recourse to law as the Respondent and his family wanted to enter into the residential house where the Appellant was residing. Mere taking recourse to law by filling petitions/ applications before court of law, by his estranged spouse, would not, in itself, give him any fresh ground to file a new petition.”

Title: NJ v. AJ

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 630

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