Calling Wife 'crazy' not Mental Cruelty
Marathi expression "Tula akkal nahi, tu vedi ahes" i.e. "you have no brains, you are crazy", does not constitute Mental Cruelty - Bombay High Court
By Advocate Suresh Tripathi |Published: 2023-10-04
The High Court has ruled that using the Marathi expression "Tula akkal nahi, tu vedi ahes," which translates to "you have no brains, you are crazy," to describe one's spouse does not constitute mental cruelty without proper context. The court, consisting of Justices Nitin Sambre and Sharmila Deshmukh, emphasized that characterizing a spouse in such a manner cannot be considered as abusive language, given the absence of a degrading or insulting intent.
The court acknowledged the common usage of such phrases and stressed that they can only be deemed abusive if the context in which they were used demonstrates an intention to humiliate or insult. In this particular case, the wife had accused her husband of mental and physical abuse, citing instances of his late-night returns and raised voice during discussions about outings. However, the court noted that the wife did not provide specific details about when and how these expressions were used. Consequently, merely uttering these words did not qualify as abusive language.
The couple, who had been married since 2007, faced differences shortly after their marriage. The husband argued that the wife was already aware that they would be living in a joint family but began complaining after marriage, desiring a separate living arrangement. He also alleged that the wife did not respect his parents and did not take care of them, which led to her leaving their matrimonial home.
In contrast, the wife claimed that her married life had been a nightmare and that she had never experienced such mistreatment before. She accused the husband and his parents of being "mean-minded and miserable persons" and asserted that the husband had dropped her off at her parents' house in 2009, after which they lived separately.
During the court proceedings, the husband, who contested a local Municipal election in 2012, mentioned an FIR filed against him in 2013 by his estranged wife. This occurred while divorce proceedings initiated in 2009 were still ongoing. The husband argued that the woman's "baseless allegations in the FIR had tarnished his and his family's reputation," constituting cruelty.
The High Court, after a thorough examination of the FIR, determined that the wife had falsely accused the husband, and these allegations contradicted her testimony during the trial. The court concluded that “the irresponsible and false baseless allegations made by the wife and failing to justify the same by evidence by itself would amount to cruelty and would entitle the husband to the dissolution of the marriage.”
Furthermore, the court reasoned that allegations of an illicit relationship, dowry demands, abusive language, and assault, without supporting evidence, constituted cruelty, especially considering the affluent background of the parties involved.
