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3w ago

Delhi HC Rules Pressure to Cut Family Ties Is Mental Cruelty and a Ground for Divorce

A division bench upheld a family court's divorce decree on corroborated findings of sustained mental cruelty.

The high court further noted the repeated public humiliation and verbal abuse of a partner was mental cruelty.
A bench of justices Anil Khsetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar delivered the verdict on Wednesday, while dealing with a woman’s petition challenging a family court’s January 2023 ruling, dissolving the marriage. (Representative photo)

Overview

  • The High Court dismissed the wife's appeal and affirmed dissolution of the marriage under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act.
  • In a September 16 verdict, Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar held that persistent efforts to alienate a husband from his family constitute cruelty.
  • The court cited conduct such as publicly berating the husband at his workplace and repeated public humiliation and verbal abuse.
  • Repeated threats and police complaints against the husband and his family, along with denying him and his relatives access to the couple's child, were each found to amount to cruelty.
  • Relying on consistent, corroborated testimony and Supreme Court precedent, the bench clarified that merely wishing to live separately does not by itself amount to cruelty.