Woman filing false cases against husband amounts to mental cruelty, says HC

Upholding the decree of divorce in a matrimonial case, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has observed that the filing of false criminal cases by a woman against her husband amounted to mental cruelty.

The judgement was passed by a division bench comprising justices Vivek Chaudhary and Om Prakash Shukla on March 7 on an appeal filed by a woman under Section 28 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA), challenging a divorce decree passed by a family court.

The court observed, “… the appellant had filed a false criminal case against the respondent-husband, her mother-in-law and his family members. The initiation of false and frivolous criminal proceedings against a spouse and his or her family not only subjects them to undue mental agony and harassment but also amounts to cruelty under the matrimonial law. Therefore, the appellant’s deliberate act of lodging false criminal cases against the respondent amounts to mental cruelty inflicted upon him.”

As per the judgement, the marriage of the appellant-wife was solemnised with the respondent-husband in 2012 as per Hindu rites and rituals.

Both the husband and wife are in government service.

As per the plaint filed by the husband, from the very inception of the marriage, the wife exhibited indifferent and aloof behaviour towards him and her mother-in-law. After some time, the husband discovered inappropriate messages on his wife’s mobile, and thus, it came to his knowledge that she was in an illicit relationship with a man who was working with her in the same office.

Thereafter, the wife started living in a rented accommodation until 2016. It was alleged that the woman’s friend started threatening the husband and his widowed mother. Resultantly, the husband lodged a complaint with 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 to her notice, she also lodged an FIR against the respondent and his family members. The family court granted divorce to the husband on the grounds of desertion and cruelty. Being aggrieved, the wife was before the high court.

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.”