CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court has held that a woman's love affair with another person amounts to mental cruelty to her husband and he is entitled to dissolve the marriage on this ground. The high court division bench, comprising Justice Rajan Gupta and Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul, was of the view that if this would not amount to cruelty, then "this court is at a loss as to what actually could be termed as cruelty."

The bench passed the order while dismissing the plea filed by a woman against the Gurgaon family court's judgment dissolving her marriage. The marriage was dissolved on the grounds of cruelty as she had had an affair with a person.

Challenging the order of the Gurgaon court, the woman, in her appeal, had argued that the family court had failed to appreciate that there was no cogent, much less, convincing evidence adduced by the husband to substantiate the allegations of cruelty against her.

Divorce case: HC says degree of cruelty inferred from consequences of the act

Hence, at best, the allegations could be said to be trivial differences and misunderstandings, which do arise in every marriage, she had argued.

Her counsel had also claimed that the family court had gone beyond the pleadings and erred in dissolving the marriage between the parties on grounds of cruelty by concluding that the complainant was having an affair with another person (name withheld). The couple was married in April 2014 and had no children.

The man, on the other hand, alleged that the behaviour and attitude of his wife was highly unbecoming and harsh towards him and his family. Even during their honeymoon, the woman had refused to have conjugal relations with him.

The man also pleaded that his wife was having an affair with someone and there was enough documentary evidence in form of messages and emails to support this contention. The cruel and hostile behaviour meted out to him by his wife, the man said and added that he had become depressed. He said despite his earnest efforts to save his marriage, he was unsuccessful.

Hearing both the parties, the HC observed that it is not possible to give a precise definition of what would constitute or amount to cruelty in a marriage. Therefore, to determine the degree of cruelty allegedly inflicted on a spouse in a marriage, the same would have to be inferred from the consequences of the act and not from the act alone. Referring to wife’s version regarding exchange of emails with other person (whom she allegedly had an extramarital relationship) that her husband had misused email ID of another person to defame her, the HC observed that it is hard to digest and deserves to be rejected outrightly. The court was of the view that the woman was trying to plug the holes which have appeared in her deposition by weaving stories.

The court found that she had admitted to the exchange of emails with another man and had apologized to her husband about that. The court also took the note of an FIR on false charges registered on the woman’s behest against her husband in which he was acquitted from the charges.

“It is thus obvious that the conduct of the wife was seemingly deliberate. It goes without saying that the husband would have suffered acute mental agony and torture on account of the acts and conduct of the wife. If this would not amount to cruelty, then this court is at a loss as to what actually could be termed as ‘cruelty’,” observed the court while dismissing the woman’s appeal.