SC holds wife guilty of cruelty, grants divorce to husband

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 24

The Supreme Court on Monday granted divorce to a man after holding his wife guilty of cruelty for filing false cases against him but asked the man to give her a Rs 1 crore-flat and Rs 50 lakh as one-time permanent alimony.

"It is apparent that the wife made reckless, defamatory and false accusations against her husband, his family members and colleagues, which would definitely have the effect of lowering his reputation in the eyes of his peers,” a bench headed by Justice AK Goel said.

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It said: "Mere filing of complaints is not cruelty, if there are justifiable reasons to file the complaints. Merely because no action is taken on the complaint or after trial the accused is acquitted may not be a ground to treat such accusations of the wife as cruelty within the meaning of the Hindu Marriage Act.

"However, if it is found that the allegations are patently false, then there can be no manner of doubt that the said conduct of a spouse levelling false accusations against the other spouse would be an act of cruelty," the bench said.

The court directed the husband to pay the alimony within three months and barred the wife from claiming any further amount at any later stage.

It granted her liberty to continue to live in the house which belonged to her mother in-law till the husband provided her a flat of similar size in a similar locality.

Senior counsel Vibha Dutta Makhija, who represented the woman, said she would file a review petition against the verdict.

“The Supreme Court has put a price to a man’s freedom…The verdict is based on statements made by counsel rather than evidence on record, including that of the couple’s son,” Makhija said.

The couple got married in 1989 and a son was born in 1990. They stayed together till 1999 but in March 2000, the husband left the matrimonial home and filed divorce proceedings on the ground of cruelty, contending his wife lodged false cases of domestic violence and dowry demand against him.

She also wrote to police, State Women Commission, Chief Justice of High Court and Chief Minister of the state. But police found her allegations to be false.

It noted that the findings of the police were never challenged till a FIR cancellation report was filed by it and 11 years the wife filed a protest petition against the report.

"It is more than obvious that the allegations levelled by the wife are false. It may be true that these allegations were levelled after the divorce petition had been filed and the wife may have been in an agitated state of mind.

“However, that did not give her a right to make defamatory statements against the husband," the bench said.