In a matrimonial dispute case, the Bombay High Court has stated that publishing accusations against a spouse in a newspaper, regardless of whether the news is actually defamatory, can harm the spouse’s reputation. The court emphasized that the act of leveling allegations against a spouse in a public forum, such as a newspaper, can lower their standing in the eyes of their peers and colleagues, causing embarrassment. The court’s observations were made in a case where the husband had allegedly published defamatory news about his wife in a newspaper.
The Bombay High Court also noted that the appellant had filed criminal complaints against his mother-in-law, the investigating officer, the prosecutor, and his wife’s current lawyer. The court observed that someone who takes such extreme actions is challenging to handle and would undoubtedly cause mental distress. The court stated that a person who files police complaints against their spouse’s mother, friends, well-wishers, prosecutor, or lawyer is a troublesome individual who causes mental harassment.
The Bombay High Court has upheld the family court’s decision to grant a divorce to a woman on the grounds of mental cruelty by her husband. The husband was a Yes Bank employee at the time of their marriage, and the wife claimed that her parents provided 75% of the wedding expenses and gave her 15 tolas of gold ornaments. The wife alleged that the husband regularly drank and abused her, and even caused a disturbance at the police academy where she was training. Furthermore, she claimed that he mortgaged her gold ornaments and took out loans from DNS Bank. As a result, she filed for divorce and also lodged a police complaint under section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with cruelty to wives.
After the family court granted a divorce decree and ordered the husband to return his wife’s streedhan, the husband filed an appeal challenging the decision. The husband refuted his wife’s allegations and claimed that the gold ornaments he mortgaged were his family’s and not his wife’s streedhan. However, the court observed that during cross-examination, the husband admitted that his wife’s mother had given her the gold ornaments, which were kept in the bank as security for loans. Additionally, the husband had published defamatory news about his wife in the “Divya Marathi” newspaper. As a result, the court found that the husband’s actions were further evidence of his wrongdoing.
The court ultimately determined that the animosity between the parties was too great to be resolved, and the husband’s behavior constituted mental cruelty. Based on the evidence presented, the court upheld the divorce decree granted by the trial court. Additionally, the court affirmed that any gold ornaments received by the wife during her marriage, regardless of whether they came from her parents or in-laws, were considered streedhan. Consequently, the court ordered the husband to return the streedhan to his wife, along with any payments owed to the bank.
Source: https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/bombay-high-court-husband-make-newspaper-allegations-wife-lower-reputation-defamation-divorce-224951