Husband’s False Adultery Allegations Cause Mental Cruelty: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court has ruled that making false accusations of adultery against a spouse amounts to mental cruelty, which gives the wife sufficient grounds to leave her husband. The court made this ruling while overturning a divorce granted in favor of the husband by a lower court in 2011.
A division bench of Justices KS Mudagal and KV Aravind found that the husband’s unfounded allegations against his wife, including claims of adultery, suspicion about her character, and questioning the paternity of their child, were acts of cruelty. The court noted that forcing his wife and son to undergo a DNA test added to the mental strain caused by his baseless claims.
The couple had been married since May 1999. In 2003, the husband filed for divorce, accusing his wife of frequenting her parents’ house, quarreling with him, and practicing black magic. The family court dismissed the adultery claim but granted the divorce based on cruelty.
The wife appealed the decision, and her lawyer argued that the family court wrongly accepted allegations that she administered drugs to weaken her husband’s health, despite no medical or forensic evidence. Furthermore, the accusations of black magic had no supporting proof.
The High Court found that the wife’s visits to her parents every three months were perfectly normal, dismissing the husband’s claim that she spent half the month away from home. It also noted that the wife had denied these claims, and no evidence was provided to substantiate them during cross-examination.
The court rejected the husband’s accusations of black magic and administering drugs, labeling them as baseless. It also highlighted the dowry demands the wife had endured.
The High Court emphasized that it is common for a married woman to visit her parents’ house occasionally to check on their well-being, calling this a “normal practice in all families.”
The ruling concluded that the husband’s unsubstantiated allegations amounted to mental cruelty. The court held that he could not benefit from his own wrongful actions and found his claims were mere accusations, unsupported by credible evidence. The High Court also stated that the husband had abused the legal system by filing for divorce based on false claims.
“Unless the partner making allegations of cruelty can prove them, the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage is not a valid reason for granting a divorce,” the court added.
As a result, the High Court allowed the wife’s appeal, overturned the divorce decree, and imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on the husband for his conduct.
Case Title: Lata Kumari v. Om Prakash Mandal
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