Overview

• The court quashed a sessions court order that had directed a magistrate to probe a husband’s defamation case against his estranged wife and family over impotency claims in her divorce petition and FIR.
• Justice S M Modak held that impotency allegations are “very much relevant” under the Hindu Marriage Act when used to demonstrate mental cruelty in matrimonial proceedings.
• The judgment emphasised that imputations made in good faith to protect a party’s legal interests during divorce litigation fall within the ninth exception to defamation under Section 499 of the IPC.
• The High Court clarified that its review was limited to the presence of malice or good faith and did not extend to determining the factual truth of the impotency allegations.
• The decision departs from a 2018 Nagpur bench ruling that deemed similar remarks defamatory outside court proceedings and establishes a guiding precedent for future matrimonial disputes.