The Bombay high court has granted divorce to a 62-year-old man from Goregaon (East) on the grounds that blaming the husband for the lack of children and complaining to his employer repeatedly amounted to cruelty.
A division bench comprising Justices KK Tated and Sarang Kotwal stated that the man’s 56-year-old wife had filed unsubstantiated complaints against him, which had led to him being arrested and spending eight days in jail.
The bench observed that “the unreasonable criminal proceedings” initiated by the woman, had caused her husband to suffer “tremendous mental agony” and so it was not possible to continue cohabiting with her.
It further noted the woman’s continuous complaints to her husband’s employer had also jeopardised his career prospects.
Family Court Failed To Properly Appreciate Evidence
The couple had gotten married in May 1972 and then lived in Andheri. However, after differences cropped up between them, the man said that his wife started repeatedly lodging written complaints about him with both the police and his employer.
He was prosecuted for several offenses including those under section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) as a result of his wife’s complaints. He was however later acquitted.
The woman filed a divorce petition before the family court at Bandra, but failed to pursue it. But in 2006, the man asked the family court to issue a divorce on the grounds of cruelty. After the court dismissed his petition in May 2010, he approached the high court.
The high court found that he was entitled to a divorce and stated that the family court had failed to appreciate the evidence on record appropriately.
