Humiliating a man publicly with false allegations and labelling him a "womaniser" in his office constitutes an act of extreme cruelty to him, the Delhi High Court has observed.The High Court made the judgment while upholding the divorce granted to a married couple, citing the wife's actions as grounds for extreme cruelty.
A division bench comprising Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna emphasised the importance of trust, faith, and respect as the foundational pillars of marriage.The bench pointed out that no individual should be expected to endure such disrespectful conduct from their spouse, who should ideally act as a protector of their image and reputation, especially in times of need.The court observed that "reckless, defamatory, humiliating and unsubstantiated" allegations by one spouse, resulted in the tarnishing of the image of the other and amounted to acts of extreme cruelty."Unfortunately, here is a case where the husband himself is being publicly harassed, humiliated and verbally attacked by his wife, who had gone to the extent of levelling allegations of infidelity during his office meetings in front of all his office staff/guests," the bench was quoted as saying."She even took to harassing the woman workers of his office and left no stone unturned to portray him as a womaniser in the office. This behaviour is but an act of extreme cruelty to the respondent/husband," it said.
The High Court made the observations while dismissing the wife's plea against a family court order, which granted divorce, on the ground of cruelty, in an appeal filed by the husband. The couple were married for six years.
"Any successful marriage is built on mutual respect and faith. If either is compromised beyond a level, the end of the relationship is inevitable as no relationship can stand on half-truth, half-lies, half-respect and half-faith," the court observed.The bench took note of the wife using the child as a weapon to "totally alienate" him from her husband. It said the husband was subjected to mental agony and trauma to such an extent that he even thought of ending his life at times.
“In the present case as well, the child has not only been totally alienated but has also been used as a weapon against the father. Nothing can be more painful for a parent to see the child drifting away and being totally against the father. This assumes some significance in the light that the father never failed to provide as required for the child,” the court further noted.
TAGS: Delhi High Court Divorce Public Humiliation False Allegations"Womaniser" Label Grounds for Divorce Delhi Case
