Cruelty Or Wife's Insanity Not Proved Or Established: Allahabad High Court Dismisses Divorce Plea Of Husband

This decision arose from a case where a husband, who married his wife in 2005 and had been separated from her since January 2012, filed for divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, citing insanity and cruelty by his wife.

The trial court rejected the husband's divorce petition, finding the evidence insufficient to prove the wife’s insanity. The husband thus filed an appeal.

A Division Bench of Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Donadi Ramesh, examined Section 13(1)(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, which allows for divorce on the grounds of a spouse’s insanity.

The Court said, “the appellant was burdened to establish either that the respondent was incurably of unsound mind or that she had been afflicted by such a medical condition as may be described as a continuous or intermittent mental disorder of a kind in which the appellant may not be reasonably expected to live with the respondent.”

Advocate Akhilesh Kumar appeared for the Appellant and Advocate Ajay Kumar Yadav appeared for the Respondent.

The court noted that Section 13(1)(iii) specifies mental illness as including conditions such as schizophrenia, psychopathic disorders, or any other serious mental disabilities. The appellant, however, failed to demonstrate that his wife was afflicted with an incurable and severe mental condition, as required. Instead, the evidence suggested that the alleged condition was treatable.

The Court added, “Unless the pre-existing and irreversible mental condition of the respondent had been proven and unless by its very nature that condition was such as to give the appellant a reason to seek dissolution of his marriage under Section 13(1)(iii) of the Act, the fact thus proven remained extraneous to the grounds raised.”

The Court also observed that the husband had not provided expert medical opinions or conclusive test reports to support his claim of insanity. Furthermore, the trial court’s findings indicated that the couple had maintained a normal marital relationship for seven years, undermining the claim of ongoing severe mental illness.

The High Court upheld the trial court's decision and dismissed the husband's appeal, reaffirming the necessity for rigorous proof when alleging insanity as grounds for divorce.

Cause Title: X v. Y, [2024:AHC:139479-DB]

Appearance:

Appellant: Advocates Akhilesh Kumar, Ram Pyare, Sanjeev Singh

Respondent: Advocates Ajay Kumar Yadav, Manvendra Singh