New Delhi (Agency): The Delhi High Court has affirmed a ruling by a family court, declaring that false allegations of rape and dowry harassment made by a wife against her husband’s family members can be deemed as extreme cruelty and legitimate grounds for divorce.
The division bench, consisting of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna, emphasized that such baseless accusations by the wife inflict mental suffering on the husband and can lead to the dissolution of the marital bond.
The court stressed that disregarding the seriousness of making false allegations of dowry harassment and rape against the respondent’s family members would be an oversight. Such actions amount to an act of severe cruelty that cannot be justified or overlooked.
The case at hand involved a woman who had contested a family court’s verdict granting her husband a divorce due to mental cruelty. The couple had tied the knot in 2012 but had been living separately since 2014.
The wife had alleged that her husband had never acknowledged their marriage and had accused her brother-in-law of rape. She had also made claims of dowry harassment against her in-laws.
However, upon investigation, the court found that the husband and his brother had been acquitted of all charges. Furthermore, the wife had issued an apology letter, admitting that her prior claims of harassment were untrue.
Additionally, there was no evidence to substantiate her assertion that the marriage had not been consummated. The court stated that depriving a spouse of companionship is a drastic form of cruelty. The foundation of a marital relationship rests on cohabitation and a conjugal connection.
The court underscored the importance of assessing cruelty based on its consequences rather than its nature. This evaluation should consider the physical and mental well-being of the involved parties, their societal status, and the impact of one spouse’s behavior on the other. In this particular case, where the couple had been living separately for nearly nine years, the court determined it to be an instance of severe mental cruelty, justifying the dissolution of the matrimonial union.
Referencing the precedent set in the case of ‘Mrs. Rita Nijhawan vs. Mr. Bal Kishan Nijhawan, AIR 1973 Del 200,’ the court noted that cohabitation is an essential component for the sustenance of a marriage.
The court observed, “The parties herein have barely been able to live together for about thirteen months and have not been able to sustain their matrimonial relationship. For a couple to be deprived of each other’s company and conjugal relationship is an extreme act of cruelty as has also been endorsed by the Apex Court.”
The woman’s appeal was subsequently dismissed by the court.