False Allegations Of Illicit Relationship Are Ultimate Kind Of Cruelty: Delhi High Court

Upholding a family court order granting decree of divorce to a husband on the ground of mental cruelty by wife, the Delhi High Court has observed that false allegations of illicit relationship are “ultimate kind of cruelty.”

“False allegations of illicit relationship are the ultimate kind of cruelty as it reflects a complete breakdown of trust and faith amongst the spouses without which no matrimonial relationship can survive,” a division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said.

The bench dismissed an appeal moved by the wife against the order of the family court passed on January 28, 2019, allowing the husband’s divorce petition under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, on the ground of cruelty by wife.

The couple got married in March 2009 and had a daughter born the next year from the wedlock. The husband had claimed that he was subjected to various acts of cruelty by the wife who left the matrimonial home in March 2016.

The court said that the “unrebutted testimony” of the husband proved that the wife used to pick quarrel on trivial issues and adopted “adamant attitude” even though he tried to make her understand and reason with her.

“It is a known fact that the bedrock of any matrimonial relationship is the conjugal relationship of which co-habitation forms a very strong basis. There is no reason to disbelieve the testimony of the respondent (husband) that the appellant (wife) used to go away for a period of 15 days to 30 days at times without informing the respondent/husband and that she also withheld herself from cohabitation,” the court said.

Observing that any denial of cohabitation by other spouse amounts to severe cruelty, the bench observed that though regular quarrels may be trivial when considered individually, however, they can not only disrupt the mental peace but also become a source of mental agony if they happen on a regular basis.

As the husband also claimed that the wife attempted to commit suicide by jumping from the balcony but was saved with great efforts by him, the court said that the threat of suicide not only took a toll on him but also impacted the conjugality of a matrimonial relationship.

“These constant threats of suicide by the appellant or of poisoning the respondent and his parents may not have been successful, but there cannot be a bigger mental torture than to be in a continuous fear or threat to security and life of the appellant and the respondent,” the court observed.

On the wife’s allegation that the husband was having illicit relations with other woman, the bench added that no evidence was led to establish that he ever had any illicit relationship and that it was almost like a “final nail in the matrimonial relationship.”

“The learned Judge, Family Court has rightly relied upon all these incidents discussed above, to conclude that it was a case of immense mental cruelty, entitling the respondent/husband to a decree of divorce under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. We find that the impugned judgment is well reasoned and is based on the cogent grounds. Therefore, there is no reason to interfere with the impugned judgment. The appeal is dismissed,” the court held.

Case Title: LK v. OPM

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 694

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