Mental Cruelty as a Ground for Divorce: What Courts Have Accepted

The ground

Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 allows divorce where the other spouse has, after the marriage, treated the petitioner with cruelty. The Act does not define cruelty, and courts have held that it includes mental cruelty: conduct of such a kind that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to continue living with the other spouse.

The Supreme Court's guidance

In Samar Ghosh v. Jaya Ghosh (2007), the Supreme Court gave illustrative examples of mental cruelty, while stressing that each case depends on its facts. They include:

• Sustained unjustifiable conduct that makes life miserable for the other spouse
• Sustained reprehensible conduct, studied neglect or indifference
• Persistent abusive and humiliating treatment
• Unilateral refusal of marital relations for a considerable period without good reason
• A long separation in which the marriage has become a fiction, combined with other conduct

False complaints as cruelty

In K. Srinivas Rao v. D.A. Deepa (2013), the Supreme Court held that making unfounded, defamatory allegations against the spouse and their family, and filing false criminal complaints, can amount to mental cruelty. Courts look at whether the complaint was found to be false, not merely whether it ended in acquittal.

What is not cruelty

Ordinary wear and tear of married life, occasional quarrels, and trivial irritations are not cruelty. The conduct must be grave and weighty, judged against the background of the particular marriage, including the parties' social status and circumstances.

Proving cruelty

• The petitioner's own evidence, with specific incidents, dates and places
• Witnesses such as family members or neighbours who saw the conduct
• Messages, emails, call records and social media posts
• Copies of complaints, FIRs and their outcome
• Medical records, where the conduct affected health