The Delhi High Court noted that questioning a husband’s legitimacy by labeling him illegitimate and making disparaging remarks about his mother constitutes mental cruelty, which can serve as legitimate grounds for divorce.
A Division Bench, comprising Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, upheld the family court’s decision granting a divorce to the respondent-husband.
The appellant-wife had contested the family court’s ruling, arguing that her own complaints of cruelty were ignored and that the divorce in favor of her husband was unwarranted.
The appellant argued that the respondent-husband humiliated her through caste-based remarks, forced her to handle household duties despite her professional obligations, and involved her in multiple unfounded legal proceedings.
However, the High Court noted that the wife’s allegations of counter-cruelty do not erase her own proven acts of cruelty.
“Two wrongs do not make a right. The appellant’s established acts of cruelty — encompassing verbal abuse, physical aggression, and social isolation — are serious and sufficient on their own to warrant the dissolution of the marriage,” the Court stated.
The Court noted that the appellant had sent the respondent “obscene, derogatory, and scandalous” messages, which questioned his legitimacy and made offensive allegations against his mother.
““Specific messages dated 09.05.2011, 15.05.2011, and 27.06.2011, which included terms such as “bastard”, “son of a bitch,” and suggestions that his mother should “earn through prostitution”, are by themselves sufficient to constitute mental cruelty of the gravest kind,” it observed
The Court further observed, “The words and messages in this case are by no means innocuous. The law recognizes that mental cruelty may result from persistent and deliberate verbal abuse and conduct that humiliates a spouse, harming their reputation and self-esteem. The text messages in question contained allegations of illegitimacy, offensive remarks directed at the respondent’s mother, and other degrading comments—a pattern of behavior that the Family Court rightly found to cause severe mental anguish to the respondent.”
Consequently, the Court dismissed the wife’s appeal and upheld the decree of divorce.
