Delhi High Court
Mrs Akash Alias Anjali vs Vijay Choudhary on 10 February, 2021
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* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of Decision:- 10.02.2021
+ MAT.APP.(F.C.) 22/2021
MRS AKASH ALIAS ANJALI ..... Appellant
Through Mr. Ekansh Bansal, Mr. Parmanand
Gaur, Advs.
versus
VIJAY CHOUDHARY ..... Respondent
Through Mr.Sanyam Jain, Adv.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIPIN SANGHI
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE REKHA PALLI
VIPIN SANGHI, J(ORAL)
CM APPL. 5204/2021 & CM APPL. 5205/2021
1. Exemptions allowed, subject to all just exceptions.
2. The applications stand disposed of.
MAT.APP.(F.C.) 22/2021 & CM APPL. 5203/2021
3. The present appeal is directed against the judgment dated 17.03.2021
passed by the Principal Judge, Family Court, South East District, Saket,
New Delhi in HMA No. 731/2011, whereby the learned Principal Judge has
allowed the divorce petition preferred by the respondent/husband under
Section 13 (1) (ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 ('the Act' for short).
Though the petition was preferred on the grounds of both cruelty and
desertion on the part of the appellant, the learned Principal Judge has
allowed the petition solely on the ground of cruelty.
Signature Not Verified
Signed By:GARIMA MADAN
Location:
Signing Date:13.02.2021
4. Before the learned Family Court, the two primary submissions of the
respondent/husband in regard to the cruelty meted out to him were; firstly,
that the appellant/wife had made a false allegation against him that he was in
an illicit relationship with her own Bhabhi, i.e., her brother's wife during the
period when the parties were staying at the parental home of the
appellant/wife and, secondly; the appellant/wife had repeatedly threatened to
commit suicide. Before the Family Court, the parties led their respective
evidence and were also cross examined. The Family Court has, in its
impugned judgment, discussed the evidence on both these aspects in the
following manner:-
"........According to the petitioner, after continuous
pressure from the respondent he also lived at parental home
of the respondent, but no suggestion has been given to the
petitioner by the respondent that she never wanted the
petitioner to live with her in her parental home. There are
various allegations made by the petitioner not only in the
petition but in his evidence affidavit also but he has not
been cross examined on these allegations, with the result the
testimony of the petitioner in this regard has gone
unrebutted and unchallenged. Petitioner has further stated
that he even went and lived at the parental home of the
respondent on her insistance but in her parental house she
alleged that he is having illicit relations with her bhabhi
and also other women of the locality with the result it
became very embarrassing and humiliating for him to live
in the parental home of the respondent along with her. He
has further stated that while living at Palwal one day
respondent got entangled and quarreled with neighbours
and when petitioner reached home she tried to commit
suicide and started assigning the reason that petitioner does
not love her and was cheating her. No suggestion has been
given to the petitioner that respondent never tried to commit
suicide or she did not make allegations against the
Signature Not Verified
Signed By:GARIMA MADAN
Location:
Signing Date:13.02.2021
character-of the petitioner. Plea of the petitioner is that
being in transport business he had to load the trucks to their
respective destination which usually takes place in the night
due to restrictions in the entry of the commercial vehicles in
the city but respondent due to this reason used to have
suspicion on his character and she further alleged that he
wanted to remarry. She also used to come to the work place
of the petitioner and create scene and drama there. She also
used to hurl abuses on the petitioner like 'kutta kamina'.
Respondent has also been cross examined at length. She has
denied the suggestion that petitioner has no extra marital
relations with his bhabhi. She again volunteered that though
she has not seen them but everybody like family members
talks about it. Thus, this admission on the part of the
respondent corroborates the testimony of the petitioner that
respondent is in a habit of making false allegations against
him and keeps on doing character assassination of the
petitioner. She herself denied the suggestion that he has no
extra marital relationship which means that she in his cross
examination has stated that petitioner has extra marital
relationship. Though she has never seen petitioner or his
bhabhi together but everybody in the family talks about it.
She has neither given the name of any family member who
told this fact to her. She has further volunteered that she has
not seen them. It is very strange that despite being wife and
also she herself has admitted in the court that she has not
seen him with her bhabhi but she is making such type of
allegations against the petitioner without verifying these
facts and without seeing them together. In her cross
examination also, she made these types of allegations. These
types of allegations, made by the respondent, not only after
marriage but during have caused great physical and mental
cruelty upon the petitioner. She has again stated that it is
incorrect that in order to defame the petitioner and his
family members she is raising such type of false allegations.
Again, she volunteered in the court that she has not seen
them, but everybody talks about it. Thus, again and again
respondent is saying that she has never seen the petitioner
Signature Not Verified
Signed By:GARIMA MADAN
Location:
Signing Date:13.02.2021
with her bhabhi but since everybody talks about it therefore,
she has made these allegations. She has further stated that it
is wrong that she gave threats to the petitioner and his
family members to commit suicide but again she volunteered
that since cruelty was committed upon her therefore she
gave these threats which clearly proves the case of the
petitioner that respondent used to give threats to them to
commit suicide. Regarding the cruelty committed upon the
respondent except for the usual defence for demand of
dowry, respondent has neither mentioned any specific
incident nor any date when any such cruelty was committed
upon her. Respondent has admitted that she filed a
maintenance petition against the petitioner in Palwal. It is
also an admitted case that various cases have been filed by
both the parties against each other. The cases filed by both
the parties against each other are still pending in District
Palwal, Haryana and are yet to be decided."
5. The Family Court has, by placing reliance on several decisions
including those of the Supreme Court, come to the conclusion that
unsubstantiated allegations made by a wife, which tantamount to character
assassination of the husband, amount to causing mental cruelty to the
husband.
6. We have heard the learned counsel and perused the impugned
judgment.
7. Before us, the only submission of learned counsel for the appellant is
that the appellant had made the allegations of the respondent having an illicit
relationship with her Bhabhi, since that was a known thing in the family and
others were also talking about the same. This submission of the appellant
has no merit. We are of the view that the learned Principal Judge was
justified in passing the decree for divorce after holding that such a serious
allegation accusing the respondent of illicit intimacy with the appellant's
Signature Not Verified
Signed By:GARIMA MADAN
Location:
Signing Date:13.02.2021
sister-in-law, which could not be established by the appellant by adducing
any cogent or reliable evidence, would amount to mental cruelty. In fact, we
also find that the factum of the appellant having made these allegations
against the respondent is evident from her own admission during the cross-
examination.
8. We are, therefore, of the view that the Family Court has correctly
arrived at the conclusion with regard to cruelty meted out by the appellant to
the respondent, and see no reason to interfere with the impugned judgment.
The appeal is, accordingly, dismissed.
VIPIN SANGHI, J
REKHA PALLI, J
FEBRUARY 10, 2021
acm
Signature Not Verified
Signed By:GARIMA MADAN
Location:
Signing Date:13.02.2021
