Filing false complaint against spouse amounts to
cruelty: SC
AmitAnand Choudhary
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New Delhi:
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The Supreme Court has held that filing a false criminal complaint and making baseless allegations against a spouse amounted to cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act and this could be ground enough to grant divorce.A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Deepak Gupta allowed the divorce plea of a husband on the ground that his wife not only filed a false criminal complaint before police but she had also made baseless allegations of dowry demand and torture against him in letters written to various authorities including the chief minister of Rajasthan and the Chief Justice of the high court.
The court noted that the man was given a clean chit by police after thorough inquiry on two complaints filed by his wife and the allegations against him and his family members were found to be false and baseless.
“Mere filing of a complaint is not cruelty, if there are justifiable reasons to file the complaint. Merely because no action is taken on the complaint or after trial the accused is acquitted may not be a ground to treat such accusations of the wife as cruelty within the meaning of the Hindu Marriage Act. However, if it is found that the allegations are patently false, there can be no manner of doubt that the said conduct of a spouse levelling false accusations would be an act of cruelty ,“ the bench said.
The bench said cruelty could never be defined with exactitude and it would depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case. It, however, said in this case it was apparent that the wife made “reckless, defamatory and false accusations against her husband, his family members and colleagues, which would definitely have the effect of lowering his reputation in the eyes of his peers“ and which amounted to cruelty .
“It is more than obvious that the allegations levelled by the wife are false. It may be true that these allegations were levelled after the divorce petition had been filed and the wife may have been in an agitated state of mind. However, that did not give her a right to make defamatory statements against her husband. The falseness of the allegations is borne out from the fact that police did not even find it a fit case to be tried,“ the bench said.
In this case the couple got married in 1989 but the husband left the house in 2000 and filed a divorce petition. The wife, thereafter, filed a criminal complaint against him and his family members, accusing them of torturing her. Police, however, came to the conclusion that she had filed a false FIR and the injuries on her body were selfinflicted.
The husband then amended his plea for divorce and sought separation from her on the ground of cruelty . He contended that filing a false case amounted to cruelty and their marriage should be dissolved on that ground.
The trial court and HC dismissed his plea saying there was no reason to hold that the criminal complaint filed by the wife was false and mala fide.
The apex court, after hearing both sides, quashed the order of the HC and allowed the husband's plea for divorce. It, however, directed him to buy a house for her worth of `1 crore and pay one time alimony of `50 lakh.
“Though we have held that the acts of the wife in filing false complaints against the husband amounts to cruelty , we are, however, not oblivious to the requirements of the wife to have a decent house where she can live. Her son and daughter-in-law may not continue to live with her forever.Therefore, some permanent arrangement has to be made for her alimony and residence,“ it said.
The court noted that the man was given a clean chit by police after thorough inquiry on two complaints filed by his wife and the allegations against him and his family members were found to be false and baseless.
“Mere filing of a complaint is not cruelty, if there are justifiable reasons to file the complaint. Merely because no action is taken on the complaint or after trial the accused is acquitted may not be a ground to treat such accusations of the wife as cruelty within the meaning of the Hindu Marriage Act. However, if it is found that the allegations are patently false, there can be no manner of doubt that the said conduct of a spouse levelling false accusations would be an act of cruelty ,“ the bench said.
The bench said cruelty could never be defined with exactitude and it would depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case. It, however, said in this case it was apparent that the wife made “reckless, defamatory and false accusations against her husband, his family members and colleagues, which would definitely have the effect of lowering his reputation in the eyes of his peers“ and which amounted to cruelty .
“It is more than obvious that the allegations levelled by the wife are false. It may be true that these allegations were levelled after the divorce petition had been filed and the wife may have been in an agitated state of mind. However, that did not give her a right to make defamatory statements against her husband. The falseness of the allegations is borne out from the fact that police did not even find it a fit case to be tried,“ the bench said.
In this case the couple got married in 1989 but the husband left the house in 2000 and filed a divorce petition. The wife, thereafter, filed a criminal complaint against him and his family members, accusing them of torturing her. Police, however, came to the conclusion that she had filed a false FIR and the injuries on her body were selfinflicted.
The husband then amended his plea for divorce and sought separation from her on the ground of cruelty . He contended that filing a false case amounted to cruelty and their marriage should be dissolved on that ground.
The trial court and HC dismissed his plea saying there was no reason to hold that the criminal complaint filed by the wife was false and mala fide.
The apex court, after hearing both sides, quashed the order of the HC and allowed the husband's plea for divorce. It, however, directed him to buy a house for her worth of `1 crore and pay one time alimony of `50 lakh.
“Though we have held that the acts of the wife in filing false complaints against the husband amounts to cruelty , we are, however, not oblivious to the requirements of the wife to have a decent house where she can live. Her son and daughter-in-law may not continue to live with her forever.Therefore, some permanent arrangement has to be made for her alimony and residence,“ it said.
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