Wild allegations against hubby’s dad is cruelty, ground for divorce: HC

Wild allegations against hubby’s dad is cruelty, ground for divorce: HC

MUMBAI: Making wild, unsubstantiated allegations against father in-law’s character is mental cruelty against husband, the Bombay high court told a Pune resident. Dismissing a petition filed by Geeta Karnik, a division bench of justices Abhay Oka and A S Chandurkar upheld the divorce granted by a family court in 2006 to her spouse Manish Karnik on grounds of cruelty.
“If one party makes wild and reckless allegations as regards the character of the other party or of any near relative of the other party and such allegations remain unsubstantiated then the same amounts to causing cruelty,” said the judges. “From the material on record, it is clearly proved that Geeta made wild and reckless allegations as regards the Manish’s father but failed to prove the same …and having failed to substantiate the same, such conduct resulted in causing cruelty,” added the judges.
Manish had moved the family court in 2004 for divorce from Geeta, claiming she would not help his mother in household work, she would taunt him about his financial status and threatening to commit suicide or have an abortion and also making allegations against his father. While the other grounds were dismissed by the family court, it ruled against Geeta on the point of subjecting Manish to cruelty by making allegations against his father.
Geeta had alleged that Manish’s father used to dress in short pants and vest at home, and whenever she was sleeping would enter the room on one pretext or the other. She claimed that her father had touched her inappropriately during an argument and would stare at her with “ill feelings”. The trial court held that her allegations had resulted in mental cruelty—one of the grounds on which divorce can be granted—to Manish and granted him divorce in 2006. Geeta challenged the order.
The HC said that Geeta had not furnished any evidence to back her allegations and had not even cross-examined her father-in-law during the trial when he denied it. “The finding recorded by the trial court cannot be faulted and the decree of divorce cannot be set aside,” said the HC.
(Names of the couple changed to protect their identities)