Calling Husband “Womaniser, Alcoholic” With No Proof Is Cruelty: High Court
The Bombay High Court affirmed a family court judgement dissolving the marriage of a Pune-based couple, declaring that labelling the husband a womaniser and an alcoholic without providing evidence amounts to cruelty.
On October 12, a division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sharmila Deshmukh dismissed an appeal brought by a 50-year-old lady who was contesting a Pune family court’s November 2005 judgement terminating her marriage to a retired Army official.
The individual passed away while the high court appeal was being heard, and as a result, the court ordered that his legal heir be added as a respondent.
The woman argued in her appeal that she was denied her conjugal rights because her husband was a womaniser and drinker.
The bench ruled that the wife’s actions, which included levelling unfounded and false accusations against her husband, were cruel because they hurt his reputation in the community.
In its ruling, the high court stated that aside from her own word, the woman had not provided any supporting documentation for her claims.
According to the man’s attorney, the petitioner woman’s false and defamatory accusations against her husband caused him mental anguish.
The husband alleged in his deposition before the family court that the petitioner had cut him off from his children and grandkids, and the court cited that testimony.
The top court stated that it is a “established principle of law” that “cruelty” can be widely defined as behaviour that causes the other party such emotional pain and suffering that it would be impossible for that party to coexist with the other.
The bench also took note of the fact that the petitioner’s husband was a former soldier who retired as a Major, belonged to the upper class, and had social standing.
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