MUMBAI: Making unsubstantiated allegations about a spouse’s character, extra-marital affairs and drinking habits amounts to mental cruelty and can be grounds for divorce, a Family Court has ruled while dissolving the marriage of a 59-year-old former Air Force officer. The verdict ends a legal battle spanning 12 years, six months and 19 days.The court allowed the husband’s counter-claim for divorce on grounds of cruelty, recognised his right to reside in the couple’s Kandivli flat and directed his wife to return the original property documents of their Kandivli and Santacruz flats.Observing that cruelty is not defined under the Hindu Marriage Act, the judge said it is a relative term that varies from person to person and depends on the spouses’ status and circumstances. Serious allegations about a spouse’s character without corroborative evidence could cause mental cruelty, the court held.The husband’s advocate, Kanupriya Kejriwal, argued that his wife had made reckless allegations of extra-marital affairs and alcoholism without supporting evidence. She also pointed out that the husband’s testimony remained unchallenged as the wife had not cross-examined him. The couple married in Dec 1997 in Mumbai and have a daughter, who was a teenager when the legal battle began. The wife, a practising lawyer, filed for divorce and sought relief under the Domestic Violence Act in early 2014, alleging physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse. She also accused her husband of being violent, alcoholic and unfaithful.The husband denied the allegations, claiming his wife repeatedly suspected him of having affairs during official trips, insulted him and created a hostile atmosphere at home. He also alleged that she pressured him to leave the Indian Air Force for a private-sector job and later lodged a false police complaint.The court noted that the wife’s father admitted that allegations of extra-marital affairs were based on information received from her, not personal knowledge. It treated the evidence as largely hearsay.
