Chennai: Defamatory complaints against spouse and damaging his reputation amount to mental cruelty, the Supreme Court said while granting divorce to an army officer.
A bench headed by Justice SK Kaul said that the Uttarakhand High Court was in error in describing the broken relationship as normal wear and tear of middle class married life.
“It is a definite case of cruelty inflicted by the respondent against the appellant and as such enough justification is found to set aside the impugned judgment of the High Court and to restore the order passed by the Family Court,” the bench observed.
“The appellant is accordingly held entitled to dissolution of his marriage and consequently the respondent’s application for restitution of conjugal rights stands dismissed. It is ordered accordingly,” it said.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by the army officer seeking divorce, alleging mental cruelty by his wife who is holding a faculty position in a government PG College.
They got married in 2006 and lived together for few months. But right from the initial days of marriage, differences cropped up between them and they have lived apart since 2007.
The wife also filed a petition against the husband for restitution of conjugal rights and for resumption of matrimonial life.
The bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy, said: “The degree of tolerance will vary from one couple to another and the Court will have to bear in mind the background, the level of education and also the status of the parties, in order to determine whether the cruelty alleged is sufficient to justify dissolution of marriage, at the instance of the wronged party.”