BAGGA LEGAL Associates

S C: Wife Leveling Allegations Affecting Career And Reputation Of Husband Amounts To Mental Cruelty Against Him For Seeking Divorce.

26.02.2021

The Supreme Court observed that wife levelling allegations which affects career and reputation of husband is mental cruelty against him for the purpose of seeking divorce.
The degree of tolerance will vary from one couple to another and the Court will have to bear in mind the background, the level of education and also the status of the parties, in order to determine whether the cruelty alleged is sufficient to justify dissolution of marriage, at the instance of the wronged party, the bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy said.
In this case, the husband, an army officer, in his divorce petition, alleged that he was subjected to numerous malicious complaints by the wife which have affected his career and loss of reputation, resulting in mental cruelty. The Family Court granted him divorce, but the High Court reversed it.
In appeal before the Apex Court, the husband submitted that the wife filed a series of complaints against him before the superior officers in the Army upto the level of the Chief of Army Staff and to other authorities and these complaints have irreparably damaged his reputation and mental peace.
"For considering dissolution of marriage at the instance of a spouse who allege mental cruelty, the result of such mental cruelty must be such that it is not possible to continue with the matrimonial relationship. In other words, the wronged party cannot be expected to condone such conduct and continue to live with his/her spouse. The degree of tolerance will vary from one couple to another and the Court will have to bear in mind the background, the level of education and also the status of the parties, in order to determine whether the cruelty alleged is sufficient to justify dissolution of marriage, at the instance of the wronged party.", the bench noted.

**** BLA ***

SC : Maintenance In All Cases To Be Awarded From The Date Of Filing Application.

04.11 2020

RAJNESH vs. NEHA [Cr. A No. 730 OF 2020 ]

The S. C. has held that It would be appropriate to grant maintenance from the date of application in all cases, including Section 125 Cr.P.C., the bench comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and R. Subhash Reddy observed in a judgment [Rajnesh vs. Neha] in which it issued exhaustive guidelines on payment of maintenance in matrimonial matters.

It also noticed that there is no provision in the Hindu Marriage Act or the Domestic Violence Act which provides the date from which the maintenance is to be awarded. The Court observed that divergent views have been taken by the Family Courts as follows : first, from the date on which the application for maintenance was filed; second, the date of the order granting maintenance; third, the date on which the summons was served upon the respondent. Referring to many such judgement of the High Court, the bench said:"we find that there is significant delay in disposal of the applications for interim maintenance for years on end. It would therefore be in the interests of justice & fair play that maintenance is awarded from the date of the application."
The court said that rationale of granting maintenance from the date of application is to enable the wife to overcome the financial crunch which occurs on separation from the husband. The court said:
Therefore the bench directed thus:

"It has therefore become necessary to issue directions to bring about uniformity and consistency in the Orders passed by all Courts."

The bench also observed that
'If maintenance is not paid in a timely manner, it defeats the very object of the social welfare legislation. Ex*****on petitions usually remain pending for months, if not years, which completely nullifies the object of the law.",

***** BLA *****