Delhi High Court Upholds Divorce Over Mental Cruelty Claims

The Delhi High Court has ruled that questioning a husband's legitimacy and making reproachable allegations against his mother qualify as mental cruelty, warranting divorce. A family court's initial divorce decree was affirmed in light of the wife's proven derogatory actions.

The case highlighted allegations of abusive behavior, including the use of offensive language, physical violence, and social isolation, against the husband. The woman, a Group A officer in the Indian Railway Traffic Service, had contested the ruling, arguing the family court overlooked the cruelty she faced, claiming caste-based remarks and undue domestic expectations from her husband.

Despite the woman's appeal, the high court emphasized that counter-cruelty claims do not negate her own established acts of cruelty. With messages containing offensive language and accusations concerning the husband's and his mother's character, the court deemed these actions severe enough to constitute mental cruelty.