Overview

• A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Dr Neela Gokhale on July 18 dismissed the wife’s appeal and reaffirmed a 2015 Pune Family Court divorce order.
• The court held that a wife’s refusal of physical intimacy, unfounded infidelity allegations and public humiliation each amount to cruelty under marriage law.
• Judges found that apathetic behaviour toward the husband’s specially-abled sister inflicted additional mental agony and satisfied cruelty criteria.
• Unrebutted evidence showed the husband moved to a rented flat and offered the key to his wife in a last reconciliation effort, which she did not accept.
• Legal analysts say the decision reinforces evolving standards in Indian divorce jurisprudence by recognising mental and emotional harms alongside physical abuse.