The Delhi High Court recently observed that the consistent and persistent act by a wife to pursue false litigation against her estranged husband and his family members amounts to cruelty.
The bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna said that such false complaints and allegations against the husband by his wife constituted mental cruelty against him.
The Court made the observations while annulling the marriage of a couple who was married in 1992 but had been residing separately since 1995.
Such a prolonged separation of almost 28 years also pointed to grave cruelty, the Court added.
The Court said, “Such separation of almost 28 years is an instance of utmost mental cruelty, asking for immediate severance of matrimonial relationship on the ground of cruelty u/S 13(1)(ia) (relating to grounds for divorce) of the (Hindu Marriage) Act.“
The Court noted that the woman had filed a case under Sections 498A (cruelty to woman), 504, and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the husband and his family members. But after a protracted trial, they all were acquitted. The woman also filed a revision petition in the same matter but was dismissed.
The bench also said, “This consistent and persistent act of the respondent (woman) to pursue the litigation over a period of time, is again an act of cruelty especially when the alleged evidence of cruelty has not been proved in this case.”
The same bench had recently also made similar observations in another matrimonial dispute case in which it observed that a wife making false allegations of rape, and dowry harassment against the family members of her husband, amounts to extreme cruelty.
The Court also opined in that case that it was cruel to deprive a spouse of other’s company because the bedrock of a marital relationship is cohabitation and conjugal relationship. Subsequently, the bench proceeded to uphold the divorce decree in the case.
However, in the present case, instead of granting a divorce, the Court held the marriage to be void under Section 11 (void marriages) of the Hindu Marriage Act, after finding that the couple were sharing a close relationship with each other.
The bench found that they had a sapinda relationship with each other as the wife’s grandmother was the sister of the father of her husband’s father.
The woman had argued that since the couple belonged to the Jhang Community, their marriage was recognized as per its custom.
The husband, whose divorce plea was earlier dismissed by the lower court, contended that the marriage was null as Section 5 (v) of the Hindu Marriage Act was violated in it. Since the provision doesn’t allow marriage between sapindas in the absence of a custom.
The Court observed that to constitute a custom that can override the Hindu Marriage Act, it has to be established and proved that the custom also existed prior to the 1955 enactment. However, the Court found that no incident was proved on record.
It also made further observation that the consequences ensuing a marriage took place against the law would not diminish merely because it has not been objected to by the community.
The Court said while holding the marriage to be a nullity, “The factum of uninterruptedness of the custom is also not established. Merely because the stray incidents of marriage between the sapindas have not been questioned by the community, would not make out a case of positive assertion of a prevailing custom.”
Advocate Harpreet Singh and Jatin Kumar Gaur represented the appellant. Advocate Kapil Dua appeared for the respondent, woman.
Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/false-complaints-wife-husband-separation-mental-cruelty-delhi-high-court