Ventilating Suspicion About Husband Who Frequently Comes Home Late Is Not Cruelty: Chhattisgarh High Court
The Chhattisgarh High Court recently while dealing with an appeal challenging an order of the Family Court has held that expressing concerns about a husband frequently coming home late at night and suspecting him of having an affair cannot be considered as an act of cruelty by the wife.
The Division Bench of Justice Goutam Bhaduri and Justice Deepak Kumar Tiwari were dealing with the appeal filed by the wife challenging the decree of divorce granted to the husband on the ground of desertion by the wife. It was submitted by the wife that she was subjected to indecent behaviour and abusive language by the husband and he also used to beat her frequently but she endured all this to save her married life and continued to bear such torture and misbehaviour with a hope that one-day such behaviour of her husband will improve and everything will be alright.
Advocate Sumesh Bajaj appeared for the Appellant while Advocate Anup Majumdar appeared for the Respondents.
It was also submitted by the wife that she was left alone at the old house and all the family members moved to another house and thereby, she was deserted by the husband, who extended physical and mental cruelty to her, therefore, no ground existed to grant a decree of divorce to the husband.
On the other hand, the husband submitted that the wife herself left the matrimonial house along with her parents and did not return. He also stated that the allegations of illicit relations were pleaded by the wife in her written statement, which also amounts to cruelty and thus, on this ground also, the husband was entitled to get a decree of divorce.
Considering the submissions of both sides, the Court deemed the wife's actions in such a situation to be within the realm of 'typical human behaviour.' The Court stated, "It is a normal human behaviour and obvious that when a husband comes late at night frequently, some doubt may come in the mind of the wife and if such doubt is ventilated, the same cannot be stated to be cruelty".
The High Court expressed that the wife's doubts would not have arisen if the husband's behavior had been different or adequately explained. The court clarified that although doubts were created due to certain actions, it couldn't be claimed that the allegations against the husband were entirely baseless. Instead, the allegations stemmed from the husband's peculiar and unexplained conduct.
Furthermore, the court highlighted that the husband had his suspicions concerning his wife's interactions with her brother's friends. The court emphasized the importance of trust between spouses, stating that in a marital relationship, there should be a basic level of mutual trust. It was not reasonable to expect the wife to act in accordance with the husband's wishes regarding her interactions with others unless there was concrete evidence to tarnish her character.
"It is a normal human behaviour and obvious that when a husband comes late at night frequently, some doubt may come in the mind of the wife and if such doubt is ventilated, the same cannot be stated to be cruelty. If the conduct of the husband was otherwise, those doubts would not have cropped in but because of the fact that by the activities doubts had been created, it cannot be stated that the allegations attributed to the husband were completely wrong but the facts would reveal that the allegations were made on account of the abnormal unexplained behaviour of the husband", stated the Judgement.
The Court also observed in its judgement that, "In a relation between a husband and wife, the minimum standard of belief on each other should be maintained and it is not expected that the wife would talk to the outsiders according to the wish and will of the husband unless something otherwise comes to fore so as to assassinate the character of the wife."
Accordingly, the Court set aside the 2017 family court judgment that had granted the husband a divorce.
Cause Title: Rainpreet Kaur v. Kulbir Chhabra [FAM No. 219 of 2017]
