Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
New Delhi, Oct 24 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has upheld the divorce decree granted to a lawyer against his wife, saying his repeated verbal abuse and abusive messages amount to “grave mental cruelty”.
A bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar dismissed the wife’s appeal against the 2023 judgment of the Family Court, which had dissolved the couple’s marriage under Section 13(1)(IA) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
A bench led by Justice Kshetrapal said the wife’s conduct, which included sending derogatory messages questioning the validity of her husband and insulting her mother, had caused “severe mental anguish”. “The most compelling evidence included a series of text messages sent from the Appellant’s mobile number… which contained hateful, abusive and scandalous language,” it said.
The Delhi High Court said, “The specific messages dated 09.05.2011, 15.05.2011 and 27.06.2011, which included words like ‘bastard’, ‘son of a bitch’ and suggested that his mother should ‘earn through prostitution’, are in themselves sufficient to constitute the gravest form of mental cruelty.”
Rejecting the wife’s argument that the husband might have sent these messages to himself from his wife’s phone, a bench led by Justice Kshetrapal said the explanation was “naturally improbable” and an “afterthought”.
It said: “The explanation of the appellant that the respondent (husband) would have sent these messages to himself from his phone is inherently implausible and was rejected by the learned Family Court on subsequent consideration, especially since this defense was never pleaded in the written statement and no corroborative evidence was produced in support of it.”
“Such words and communications as proved in this case are not harmless,” the Delhi High Court said. She said the Family Court had found her to be “causing severe mental pain to the respondent (husband)”. “The appellant (wife) habitually used derogatory epithets like ‘animal’, ‘son of a bitch’, ‘haramzada’, ‘kutta’ and ‘kamina’ in daily conversations,” a bench led by Justice Kshetrapal recorded.
“She slapped the respondent (husband) merely for expressing her desire to accompany him to Mumbai… and refused marital relations from the very beginning of the marriage,” it said. The Delhi High Court agreed with the Family Court that the marriage had “irretrievably broken down”, noting that the parties had been living separately for more than 14 years.
While accepting that the husband’s conduct in filing multiple complaints was “not entirely desirable”, the Delhi High Court held that “two wrongs do not make a right”. “Such conduct by the respondent (husband) cannot justify or erase the independently established cruelty inflicted by the appellant (wife) through her brazen verbal and textual abuse,” a bench led by Justice Kshetrapal said.
Dismissing the wife’s appeal, the Delhi High Court said: “We do not find any merit in the present appeal. The decision of the Family Court to grant a decree of divorce on the ground of cruelty is based on a sound and balanced appreciation of the evidence and correct application of legal principles.”
–IANS
PDS/UK