The Bombay High Court ruled that filing false cases against a husband constitutes cruelty by the wife. This decision sheds light on the legal ramifications of such actions in matrimonial disputes. The court emphasized the need to prevent misuse of legal provisions and maintain fairness in legal proceedings involving marital discord. This ruling highlights the importance of honesty and integrity in legal matters.
Mumbai: The Aurangabad division of the Bombay High Court determined that the act of a wife filing multiple unfounded criminal and civil cases against her husband and his relatives constitutes cruelty. The case presided over by Justice YG Khobragade, who evaluating an appeal from the wife for the restitution of conjugal rights after a lower court ruled in favour of the husband’s divorce petition.
The High Court stated,
“The lodging of various false and baseless reports with police authorities against the husband, his father, brother, and other family members unquestionably falls under the definition of cruelty.”
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This emphasizes the court’s stance on the serious nature of making false accusations in legal matters involving familial disputes.
In this case, the couple married in 2004 in Parbhani and cohabitated until 2012, when the wife reportedly moved back to her parental home with their daughter. The husband’s claim highlighted that despite leaving the marital home, the wife later sought legal measures to restore their marital relationship.
In 2015, she filed a plea claiming the court previously ruled in her favour and that she attempted to reunite with him. According to her, upon her arrival at his residence, she found him absent, which prompted her to file a missing person’s report against him and initiate further legal action before a magistrate court.
Justice Khobragade concluded that the wife’s actions, involving the filing of multiple baseless legal claims and misuse of legal tools against her husband and his family, clearly amounted to matrimonial cruelty. As a result, the High Court declined to overturn the divorce that been granted, upholding the decision of the lower court.
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This ruling highlights the court’s stance that misuse of the legal system to harass a spouse can indeed be viewed as an act of cruelty, thereby justifying the dissolution of the marriage.
The Bombay High Court dismissed the woman’s appeal, stating that the decision made by the lower court to grant the divorce both legally sound and free from any error in judgement. The court emphasized that there no indication of perversity or illegality in the lower court’s ruling, affirming that the divorce justified based on the evidence presented.
This decision highlights the court’s agreement with the initial findings that the actions taken by the wife, which involved filing multiple unfounded cases against her husband, constituted matrimonial cruelty. Thus, the High Court found no grounds to challenge or overturn the divorce decree, supporting the lower court’s decision to dissolve the marriage.