Falsely portraying hubby as womaniser extreme cruelty by wife: Delhi HC

NEW DELHI: Making unsubstantiated allegations of extramarital relationship against a husband and portraying him as a womaniser in public space are acts of extreme cruelty that merit dissolution of marriage, the Delhi High Court has held.

A bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, while upholding a family court order granting divorce on the husband’s plea of cruelty, said a spouse expects his partner to respect him and “act as a shield of protection” in times of need, and “constant nagging” on other person’s character and fidelity leads to mental agony.

Any successful marriage, the court said in a recent order, is built on mutual respect and faith and, if either is compromised beyond a level, the end of the relationship is inevitable.

“Casting aspersions of the alleged extramarital relationship with another married lady who was the wife of his friend, would lead to the inevitable conclusion of cruelty... such reckless, defamatory, humiliating and unsubstantiated allegations by one spouse, which has the impact of publicly tarnishing the image of the other spouse, is nothing but acts of extreme cruelty,” the court said.

The court noted that the wife claimed her husband was impotent and compelled him to undergo a potency test which found him fit. Such allegations, it observed, caused him mental cruelty.

The wife also alienated their child from the husband which also amounted to mental cruelty, it added.

The court, however, said certain alleged acts of the wife, such as her being unable to complete an English speaking course, did not amount to cruelty to the husband.