Jahanvi Agarwal
On 6th September 2023, the Delhi High Court declared that false allegations against a woman’s “chastity” can be no greater than cruelty. The court granted the woman a divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion, stating that the couple has been living apart for the last 27 years.
The High Court stated that the term “mental cruelty” is broad enough to encompass “financial instability” and further stated that financial instability is a constant source of mental cruelty to the wife since it is bound to cause mental anxiety as the husband is not established in any business or profession.
It emerges that ‘mental cruelty’ cannot be defined in any straight jacket parameter. The circumstances and the situation of the spouses have to be considered to ascertain if certain acts, which are complained of, would be a source of mental agony and pain.
The division bench consisted of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna stated that:
“In the present case, it is easy to decipher the mental trauma as the appellant (woman) was working and the respondent (husband) was not working. There was a huge disparity in the financial status of the appellant and the respondent.”
The woman filed an appeal before the Supreme Court of India after the family court dismissed her plea for a divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion.
The woman stated in her plea that the man started making allegations against her of having extramarital relationships with her brother-in-law and several other people.