A Division Bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna referred to a Supreme Court judgement and said that such allegations constitute grave assault on character, honour and reputation and is the worst form of cruelty.
“Such unsubstantiated assertions, being of a quality which cause mental pain, agony and suffering are sufficient by itself to amount to the reformulated concept of cruelty in matrimonial law,” the Court said.
It, therefore, upheld the a family court rejecting the husband’s plea for divorce and rejected the man’s appeal against the same.
“The learned Family Judge has rightly observed that levelling of disgusting allegations of unchastity and indecent familiarity with a person outside wedlock and allegations of extra marital relationship, constitute grave assault on the character, honour, reputation, status as well as mental health of the spouse. Such scandalous, unsubstantiated aspersions of perfidiousness attributed to the spouse and not even sparing the children, would amount to worst form of insult and cruelty, sufficient by disentitle the appellant from seeking divorce. This is one case where the appellant has himself committed the wrong and cannot be granted the benefit of divorce,” the High Court said.
Source: Barandbench
