Summary
A husband's divorce petition on grounds of cruelty and desertion was decreed by the trial court but dismissed by the Delhi High Court, which held that the wife's filing of criminal complaints did not amount to cruelty. The Supreme Court restored the decree, holding that where the spouses had lived apart for 25 years with no child, repeated failed mediation and multiple criminal cases all ending in discharge or acquittal, the marriage had irretrievably broken down and its continuation itself amounted to cruelty to both parties under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act; it granted divorce subject to permanent alimony of Rs. 30 lakh.
Issues
- Whether the repeated filing of criminal complaints by one spouse against the other, all ending in discharge or acquittal, amounts to cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
- Whether a marriage that has irretrievably broken down, with 25 years of separation, no cohabitation and no prospect of reconciliation, can be dissolved on the ground of cruelty even though irretrievable breakdown is not itself a statutory ground.
- What permanent alimony should accompany the decree.
Provisions considered
- Section 13(1)(ia), Hindu Marriage Act, 1955Cruelty is undefined and must be gathered from the entire matrimonial relationship, including reproaches, complaints and accusations and their effect; long separation, complete breakdown of bonds and continuing bitterness were read as cruelty inflicted by each spouse on the other, justifying dissolution on this ground. (¶¶ 11, 16, 17, 18)
- Section 13(1)(ib), Hindu Marriage Act, 1955Desertion was one of the grounds pleaded; the High Court found it not proved, and the Supreme Court decided the appeal on cruelty rather than desertion. (¶¶ 3, 6, 19)
- Section 18, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956Noted as one of the proceedings the wife had initiated, a petition for maintenance, among the multiple litigations between the parties. (¶ 2)
Held
- Repeatedly filing criminal cases by one spouse against the other in a matrimonial dispute can amount to cruelty, as held in Naveen Kohli and K. Srinivas Rao; the High Court's view that mere filing of complaints is not cruelty may be correct as a bare proposition, but the whole matrimonial relationship must be examined. (¶¶ 11, 16)
- Cruelty is to be judged from the entire matrimonial relationship and the effect of the conduct rather than its nature; it may be mental, need not be intentional, and a long period of continuous separation making the marriage a fiction supported only by a legal tie may itself amount to mental cruelty. (¶¶ 16, 17)
- Irretrievable breakdown is not a ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, but where the marriage has broken down irretrievably, with long separation, no cohabitation and multiple court cases, continuing it would sanction the cruelty each spouse inflicts on the other; such a situation is cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) and a ground for dissolution. (¶¶ 12, 13, 16, 18)
Result
Appeal allowed; High Court's order set aside and the trial court's decree upheld on different grounds; marriage dissolved by decree of divorce, effective only on the husband depositing Rs. 30,00,000 as permanent alimony with the Registry within four weeks, to be disbursed to the wife after verification.