On 5 March 2024 the Telangana High Court in Hyderabad held that merely filing a domestic‑violence complaint under Section 498A of the IPC and the Dowry Prohibition Act does not satisfy the legal test for cruelty, and therefore cannot be used as the sole basis for a divorce petition.
The married couple, who tied the knot in February 2009 and welcomed a daughter in November of the same year, began living apart in August 2010. The husband later invoked Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, seeking dissolution of the marriage on the ground of cruelty, while the wife filed a petition under Section 9 for restitution of conjugal rights.
The Family Court dismissed the wife’s restitution claim and granted divorce to the husband. Unhappy with both orders, the wife appealed to the High Court, challenging the finding of cruelty and the validity of the divorce.
Justice K Lakshman and Justice K Sujana, forming a division bench, observed that the husband had not produced any witness or documentary evidence to substantiate his allegations of the wife’s alleged psychological disorder, assaults, or attempts to involve his family in false criminal cases. The court noted that the only evidence presented was the FIR lodged by the wife herself, which, in the judges’ view, could not be equated with proven cruelty. They emphasized that the burden of proof lies with the party alleging cruelty and that the statute does not define cruelty; it must be inferred from the totality of evidence.
Consequently, the High Court concluded that the FIR alone does not constitute cruelty and that the divorce cannot rest on that ground. The judgment also clarified that neither the family court nor the high court can dissolve a marriage on the basis of an “irretrievable breakdown” without concrete proof of cruelty.
Image for illustration purposes only
📰 Source: Siasat Gulf