Wife Threatening & Attempting To Commit Suicide Amounts To Cruelty: Bombay High Court Grants Divorce

The Bombay High Court has held that a spouse threatening other or attempting to commit suicide amounts to cruelty and ground of divorce is made out.

The Court was considering an Appeal filed by the wife against divorce decree passed on the ground of cruelty.

The single bench of Justice R M Joshi held, "....husband has not only made allegation that wife used to threaten him and his family to send them to jail by committing suicide but infact that attempt was made. Such an act on the part of spouse would amount to such a cruelty that it becomes a ground for decree of divorce. In any case, perusal of the evidence on record shows that the findings of the Trial Court for granting dissolution of marriage confirmed by the First Appellate Court are consistent with the same. Thus, no perversity is seen in the said findings to cause any interference therein...."

The Appellant was represented by Advocate M. P. Tripathi while the Respondent was represented by Advocate Kshitij Surve.

Facts of the Case

The Appellant and the Respondent got married in 2009. It was the case of the husband that after marriage, the parents of the wife frequently used to visit the matrimonial home and used to cause interference in their marital life. It was claimed that one day in 2010, wife without any intimation left matrimonial home and went to her parents home and when he followed her there, he was insulted.

Later, she gave birth to their daughter and when the husband visited her house with family, he was insulted. The husband also alleged the wife made false accusations against his father of outraging her modesty. It was further alleged that she used to give threats for committing suicide and sending husband and his family members to jail. The Trial Court after analyzing oral as well as documentary evidence, decreed the Suit by holding that wife has meted out cruel treatment to the husband is sufficient to entitle him to seek decree of divorce.

Counsel for the wife contended that the alleged cruelty is not sufficient to grant decree of divorce. It was his submission that the decree of divorce cannot be granted on any allegation of cruelty which is not substantive in nature.

Counsel for the husband argued that when the cross-examination was sought to be done in respect of attempted suicide by wife, adjournment was sought and thereafter the wife appeared before the Court by applying Mehandi on her hand in order to suppress the evidence of attempted suicide. He averred that it was more than sufficient to indicate that the Trial Court rightly took into consideration the evidence on record so also the conduct of the wife to pass the decree of divorce.

Reasoning By Court

The Court was of the view that perusal of evidence of husband, his father and one more witness i.e. friend of the father more than sufficiently demonstrates that the contention of the husband is duly proved by leading cogent evidence and the wife, contrarily was unable to give any explanation for making allegation against the father of the husband without making any compliant to that effect to the Police.

It concluded that a case for cruelty is clearly made out.

The Appeal was accordingly dismissed.

Case Title: Second Appeal No. 268 OF 2018

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