A. Jayachandra Vs. Aneel Kaur
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Head Note
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 - Section 13 , Section 10
What is cruelty in the act - Legal purpose explained - (1) Cruelty can be physical or mental, intentional or unintentional - Mental cruelty may consist of verbal abuses and insults by using filthy and abusive language leading to constant disturbance of mental peace of the other party - It may be words, gestures or by mere silence, violent or non-violent. (2) Cruelty should be wilful unjustifiable conduct of such character as to cause danger to life, limb or health, bodily or mental, or as to give rise to a reasonable apprehension of such a danger. (3) Proof beyond doubt, as in criminal trials is not required to prove cruelty. (4) In physical cruelty, there can be tangible and direct evidence, but in the case of mental cruelty there may not at the same time be direct evidence - For proof of mental cruelty Court has to find out nature of cruel treatment, impact of such treatment in the mind of the spouse, whether it caused reasonable apprehension that it would be harmful or injurious to live with the other. (5) There may be a case where the conduct complained of itself is bad enough and per se unlawful or illegal - Then the impact or injurious effect on the other spouse need not be enquired into or considered. AIR 1988 Supreme Court 121 relied. (6) Whether the conduct of a spouse amounted to cruelty has to be considered in the background of several factors such as social status of parties, their education, physical and mental conditions, customs and traditions. (7) Mere trivial irritations, quarrels between spouses, which happen in day- to-day married life, may also not amount to cruelty. (8) The Courts do not have to deal with ideal husbands and ideal wives - It has to deal with particular man and woman before it - The ideal couple or a mere ideal one will probably have no occasion to go to Matrimonial Court. AIR 1975 Supreme Court 1534 relied.
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 - Section 13
In extreme cases Court can direct dissolution of marriage with a view to do complete justice and shorten the agony of the parties engaged in long drawn legal battle.
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 - Section 13
Mental cruelty - Husband and wife both professional doctors - Wife advised her husband not to ask certain female staff members to come and work on off-duty hours when nobody else was available in the hospital - Not to work behind the closed doors with certain members of the staff - There were clear manifestations of her suspecting the husband's fidelity, character and reputation - Constant nagging on those aspects, certainly amounted to causing indelible mental agony and amounts to cruelty.
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 - Section 13
Mental cruelty - It may be words, gestures, or by mere silence, violent or non-violent - Proof beyond doubt, as in criminal cases is not required to prove cruelty.
Topic(s)-Mental cruelty