Overview

• On May 22, the Calcutta High Court overturned a February 2018 ex parte decree and granted a divorce on grounds of cruelty.
• The division bench of Justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Uday Kumar described the trial judge’s language as ‘patriarchal and condescending’.
• The High Court criticized the judge for ‘copy-pasting’ from earlier rulings and relying on irrelevant four-point marriage guidelines.
• The court noted the wife had neither produced evidence nor cross-examined her husband during the original trial.
• The judges refrained from formal disciplinary remarks but warned that future judicial lapses could affect the judge’s career record.