Wife Filing False Criminal Cases Against Husband Amounts To Mental Cruelty: Allahabad High Court Upholds Divorce Decree
The Allahabad High Court dismissed an Appeal of a wife under Section 28 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 against a Divorce Decree passed by the Family Court.
The Allahabad High Court upheld the Decree of Divorce, saying that filing of false criminal cases by the wife against her husband amounts to mental cruelty.
The Lucknow Bench was dealing an Appeal filed by a wife under Section 28 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA), challenging a Divorce Decree passed by the Family Court in a Suit filed by her husband.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Om Prakash Shukla observed, “… the appellant had filed a false criminal case against the respondent-husband, mother in-law and his family members. The initiation of false and frivolous criminal proceedings against a spouse and their family not only subjects them to undue mental agony and harassment but also amounts to cruelty under matrimonial law. Therefore, the appellant’s deliberate act of lodging false criminal cases against the respondent amounts to mental cruelty inflicted upon him.”
Advocates Shobhit Mohan Shukla and Ashok Kumar Mishra appeared for the Appellant/Wife while Advocates Manoj Kumar Misra and Sudeep Kumar appeared for the Respondent/Husband.
Facts of the Case
The marriage of the Appellant-wife was solemnized with the Respondent-husband in 2012 as per Hindu rites and rituals. The wife was working in the Department of Home, State of U.P., as Head Operator, Police Radio Service and the husband was working as Review Officer in the Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench. As per the Plaint filed by the husband, from the very inception of the marriage, the wife exhibited an indifferent and aloof behaviour towards him and her mother-in-law. After sometime, the husband discovered inappropriate messages on his wife’s mobile and thus, it came in his knowledge that she was in illicit relationship with a man who was working with her in the same office. The husband and his family intervened and tried to convince the wife but she started allegedly quarrelling and misbehaving with them.
Thereafter, the wife started living in a rented accommodation where her lover was a frequent visitor until her husband brought her back in 2016. It was alleged that the said man started threatening the husband and his widowed mother. Resultantly, the husband made a Complaint to the Police and on enquiry, the said man admitted his relationship with the Appellant. It was further alleged that the Appellant came to the Respondent’s house and forcibly took ornaments and cash from there. Hence, the Respondent’s mother lodged an FIR and when it came into her notice, she also lodged an FIR against the Respondent and his family members. The Family Court granted divorce to the husband on the ground of desertion and cruelty. Being aggrieved, the wife was before the High Court.
Reasoning
The High Court in the above regard, reiterated, “… filing baseless criminal complaints against a spouse with the intent to cause humiliation and distress amounts to cruelty and can be a valid ground for divorce.”
The Court noted that in this case, since the allegations made by the wife did not stand the test of judicial scrutiny and were ultimately quashed, it reinforces the finding that such conduct on her part contributed to cruelty towards the husband and his family.
“From the facts and circumstances as narrated above as well as law settled by the Supreme Court, as quoted above, a case for cruelty is clearly made out in the present case by the wife against the husband, and the same is decided against the appellant and in favour of the respondent”, it further said.
The Court also elucidated that an irretrievable breakdown of marriage is where husband and wife have been living separately for a considerable period and there is absolutely no chance of their living together again.
“… the judgment of the Family Court dated 14.10.2022 does not suffer from any illegality or perversity. The evidence on record sufficiently establishes that the appellant deserted the respondent without reasonable cause and also that her conduct amounted to cruelty and also it is a case of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. The doctrine of res judicata does not apply in the present case, and the Family Court has rightly exercised its jurisdiction in granting the decree of divorce”, it concluded.
Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the Appeal and upheld the Divorce Decree granted by the Family Court.
Cause Title- ABC v. XYZ (Neutral Citation: 2025:AHC-LKO:13910-DB)
