New Delhi:The Delhi High Court has held that mere acquittal of a person in a criminal case cannot be a ground for granting divorce and dismissed a man’s plea seeking a decree of divorce in his favour, claiming that his wife committed cruelty on him.
A bench of justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna said the man’s acquittal in a criminal case in a trial court does not wash away the cruelty committed by him of being involved with another woman during the subsistence of his marriage with his estranged wife.
“Marital bonds are delicate emotional human relationships and the involvement of any third person could result in a complete collapse of trust, faith and tranquillity.
Any sort of influence by a third person can just be a silent destroyer of the bond, leading to prolonged irreconcilable differences,” the bench said.
The high court upheld the trial court’s decision denying divorce to a couple who married in 1982 and separated in 1994. The husband alleged cruelty, claiming his wife neglected him and assaulted him.
The wife accused him of infidelity, leading to marital discord since 1993. She filed an FIR against him and his family under IPC sections 498A and 406.
The court deemed granting divorce after a 40-year marriage as rewarding wrongdoing and upheld the lower court’s decision attributing cruelty towards the wife to the husband’s actions.