IMG_20170918_220959_183
Miscellaneous Appeal No 67 of 2013
Smt Ekta Devi Vs. Bijay Kumar Kyal

In this case husband filed a divorce petition and family court holds that wife’s conduct constitutes cruelty against husband and  allowed the petition on the ground of cruelty .

Aggrieved by the judgment and order dated 15.12.12 this present appeal has been filed under Section 19 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 by the wife .
Hon’ble court found that in the application for dissolution of marriage, the husband had alleged cruelty. In the plaint itself, it is alleged by the husband that right from the time they were married, he had a tough time trying to reconcile and persuade the wife to have conjugal life.
 
She was adverse to it as she had a pre-matrimonial relationship but marriage forced upon her. She used to be insulting and abusive with him and his relations including elders in the family. She used to even assault him and kept threatening that he and his family members would be implicated in false cases.
 In response to the suit so filed, the wife immediately filed case for the offence punishable under Section 498A of Indian Penal Code and other criminal cases against the husband and his family members which was later quashed by this Court, though on the ground of territorial jurisdiction.
 Upon examination of evidence, the trial
Court came to a finding that the wife used abusive language towards not only the husband but elders in the family. It also accepted the evidence that the wife used to assault the husband.
 It also noticed that soon after the matrimonial suit was filed, the wife retaliated with case for the offence punishable under Section 498A, IPC and other cases against the husband and family members.
 The trial Court, thus, found that the conduct of the wife was cruel and with such a behaviour towards the husband and his family members including elders, it could be held to be cruelty and was valid for dissolution of marriage.
 High court was surprised by submissions of appellant council that merely using abusive language towards the husband and elders and even occasionally assaulting the husband cannot be termed as cruelty.
 
Court said, We respectfully disagree. If the husband abuses and assaults the wife, he would be liable to criminal charges but if what we have understood from the submission that if the wife does the same, then not only it is not a criminal offence but it does not also constitute cruelty, cannot be understood.
 Our society has now degenerated to such a level where a lady of the house would have free mouth to abuse the elders with filthy abuses regularly and occasionally even assaulting her husband and to accept that would not constitute a cruelty cannot be accepted.
 Cruelty cannot be defined by any straight jacket definition. It depends
upon various factors. Behaviour of one party to matrimonial alliance in a manner not compatible to the relationship and making it unworthy
of peaceful conjugal life would constitute cruelty.
 Mere denial of allegation is not sufficient. We have no reason to take a different view of the matter on the evidence that was led before the trial Court which we have perused.
 We may only add, as has been noticed by the Apex Court in the case of K Srinivas Versus- K Sunita (2014) 16 Supreme Court Cases 34, that the fact that the wife, after matrimonial case is filed, files case punishable for the offence under Section 498A, IPC against the husband and family members itself shows cruelty.
We, thus, agree with the trial Court and, accordingly, dismiss this appeal