The Jharkhand High Court recently upheld a family court’s order granting divorce to a husband on grounds of mental cruelty, observing that false allegations of impotency levelled by a wife can seriously damage a spouse’s reputation and constitute cruelty.

A bench of Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Arun Kumar Rai dismissed an appeal filed by the wife challenging a judgment of family court which had dissolved the marriage and awarded Rs 5 lakh as permanent alimony to the wife.

“Allegation of impotency against the husband would necessarily affect the reputation of the husband and the complaining of incapacity of the husband to bear children, without any proof creates an intense mental agony and anguish of the husband and such conduct amounts to mental cruelty,” the bench said in its order dated March 12.

Not corroborated by medical opinion

• “Cruelty” under matrimonial law consists of conduct so grave and weighty as to lead one to the conclusion that one of the spouses cannot reasonably be expected to live with the other spouse.
• It must be more serious than the ordinary wear and tear of married life.
• Cruelty must be of such a type which will satisfy the conscience of the court that the relationship between the parties has deteriorated to such an extent that it has become impossible for them to live together without mental agony.
• The cruelty practiced may be in many forms and it must be productive of an apprehension in the mind of the other spouse that it is dangerous to...

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