Telangana HC: Preventing Spouse from Using Facebook, Instagram Can Be Cruelty
The Telangana High Court has ruled that damaging a spouse’s reputation, social standing, or work prospects by another spouse amounts to cruelty. Extending this principle, the court suggested that preventing a spouse from using Facebook and Instagram could also be considered cruelty.
A bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice M.G. Priyadarshini stated that forcing a marriage is not the court’s role. They emphasized that the court should not act as a mediator to keep couples in loveless marriages.
These observations came while allowing a husband’s appeal for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act. The couple married in 2010, but severe marital discord began shortly after. The wife left the matrimonial home in 2011 and filed several criminal cases against her husband, including cruelty and dowry harassment.
Despite returning briefly in May 2015, the wife soon left and filed more criminal cases against the husband, who was acquitted in some cases. The Trial Court dismissed the husband’s divorce petition in 2021, but he appealed to the High Court, arguing that his wife’s actions amounted to cruelty and desertion.
The wife’s counsel argued that the husband should support her financially and that divorce should not be granted without ensuring her maintenance. However, the High Court found that the wife’s actions constituted mental cruelty and that the marriage had irreparably broken down.
The court noted that cruelty evolves with societal changes and that repeated false cases can be a form of mental cruelty, justifying divorce. Ultimately, the court allowed the husband’s appeal, concluding that the marriage’s foundation had collapsed beyond repair.
Case Title: D. Narsimha vs. Smt D Anita Vaishnavi
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