Divorce & Mental Cruelty · 7 April 2026
False Criminal Case Leading To Arrest, Coupled With 17-Year Separation, Amounts To Mental Cruelty
High Court at Calcutta · FA No. 185 of 2022
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After marital discord, the wife had filed a criminal case under Section 498A IPC against the husband, which led to his arrest and a period in jail before he was fully acquitted. The couple had by then lived separately for over 17 years without cohabitation. A Family Court granted the husband a divorce on the ground of mental cruelty, and the wife appealed.
Dismissing the appeal and affirming the divorce decree, the Calcutta High Court held that being subjected to a false criminal prosecution resulting in arrest and incarceration causes lasting trauma and social stigma, amounting to mental cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act. Combined with a separation stretching past 17 years, the Court held the marital bond had broken down beyond repair, justifying dissolution.
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