Accusing husband of having illicit relationship with his own mother amounts to cruelty: Chhattisgarh High Court

The Chhattisgarh High Court recently held that if a wife alleges illicit relationship between her husband and his mother, the same would amount to mental cruelty entitling him to divorce [Deepak Verma vs Rashmi Verma]..A division bench of Justices Goutam Bhaduri and Sanjay Agrawal quashed a March 2020 order passed by a family court in Durg by which it had denied divorce to the appellant-husbandThe High Court noted that the wife had alleged that her husband and his mother had an illicit relationship and that her father-in-law had a bad-eye on her.The bench opined that by such an allegation, the wife 'assassinated' the character of her own mother-in-law and that the same cannot be sidelined by saying that it was an allegation made on the spur of the moment. "The nature of such statement destroys the reputation and value of the husband and wife in the eyes of each other and it cannot be said to be a normal wear and tear or isolated incident. When the wife affirms her statement made in the different forums wherein the sacred relation of mother & son is being attacked by such accusation certainly it would lead to mental cruelty," the Court held..By way of background, the couple had gotten married on November 5, 2011 and shifted to Durgapur in West Bengal. However, the husband alleged that after the wedding, the wife's behaviour towards him was not congenial and she used to hurl abuses at him and his mother. He also alleged that his wife frequently used to skip preparation of meal forcing him to either starve or eat at a hotel.It was also claimed that the wife used to threaten him that she would lodge a false case against him. He alleged that in December 2013, when the couple visited his parents home in Bhatapara in Chhattisgarh, she did not stay there for more than 2 days but instead went to her parental house in Bhilai and never returned after that.The wife, however, denied all the allegations and claimed that while she was working, her entire salary was being taken by the family members of the husband. Whenever she expressed her desire to have a child, the husband refused the same on the ground that they may have a female child. She specifically claimed that in December 2013, when she came to Bhatapara from Durgapur, she was abandoned at Bilaspur Railway Station and the husband refused to take her with him and hence, she went to her parental house. She also alleged that she was being humiliated in the name of witchcraft (टोनही)..After examining the contentions and the evidence on record, the Court noted that the wife had filed a case under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) but the family members of the husband had been acquitted in that case.The bench further referred to the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Rani Narasimha Sastry vs Rani Suneela Rani wherein the apex court had held that when a prosecution is launched against the husband on a complaint made by the wife under Section 498A of IPC which ultimately resulted in acquittal, then in such a case, it cannot be said that no cruelty was meted out to the husband.In this backdrop, the bench quashed the family court's order and granted divorce to the couple.The bench also ordered the husband to pay monthly maintenance of ₹35,000 to the wife..Senior Advocate Sharmila Singhai along with advocate PR Patankar appeared for the Husband.Advocates Uttam Pandey, Jitendra Gupta and Hari Om Rai represented the Wife..[Read Judgment]