The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently held that if a wife is disrespectful towards her husband and his family, it would construe as cruelty towards the husband.
The bench of Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Virender Singh made such observations while dismissing a woman’s appeal against the decree of divorce granted by the family court on the ground of cruelty filed in the petition by the man.
In appeal before the high court, the wife alleged that it was in fact her husband’s behaviour towards her that had forced her to move out of her matrimonial house along with her minor son.
However, it was the husband, who filed a plea for divorce before the family court on the ground of cruelty and desertion in which the court found both the grounds proven but allowed the petition on the basis of ‘cruelty’ due technical reasons.
The wife, before the high court, alleged that while passing the decree of divorce, the family court only considered the aspects and contentions of the husband and despite contradictions, it wrongly believed the evidence produced by him. She said the husband’s actions towards her were the reason for their separation. However, opposing the appeal, the husband said otherwise.
The high court underscored that the husband had alleged that the woman, who is a daughter of an IPS officer, was proud, arrogant, stubborn, short-tempered, and pretentious and she also used to insult his family members.
The court noted that the husband, in his examination-in-chief before the trial court, had alleged that the day his wife entered her matrimonial house, she started disobeying everyone stating that she is a progressive girl and neither likes nor follows traditions.
To reach its conclusion, the court referred to a catena of judgments of the Supreme Court, including the decision in V. Bhagat v. D. Bhagat (1994) in which the SC held that mental cruelty in Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Act can broadly be defined as that conduct which inflicts upon the other party such mental pain and suffering as would make it not possible for that party to live with the other.
Moreover, the court said the family court, in its very lengthy judgment categorically touching each and every aspect, had arrived at a conclusion that the statements of the husband and his witnesses were reliable while the allegations of the wife did not withstand.
“All this shows that the wife was harassing and torturing him and his entire family. His statement remained intact in cross-examination. His witnesses including his younger brother stood firm with him”, Court observed.
Therefore, in view of wife’s not willing to stay with the husband, while noting that the reasons stated by her for leaving her matrimonial home were not satisfactory and without just and reasonable cause, the court refused to interfere in the decision of the family court.
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