Divorce — Adultery and Mental Cruelty · 1 June 2026

XXXXX v. XXXX: Punjab & Haryana High Court Holds a Single Meeting With a Former Partner Is Not Adultery, but Upholds Divorce for Cruelty From False Allegations

High Court of Punjab and Haryana · 2026 LiveLaw (PH) 176

The parties married on 16 November 2021 and have no children. The husband, a Navy personnel, sought divorce alleging his wife was quarrelsome, neglected marital obligations, was frequently on her phone with strangers, and had a prior relationship with another man, with whom she was found in a compromising position on 11 January 2023. The wife denied this and alleged that the husband and his family demanded dowry and that her father-in-law had behaved inappropriately with her. The Family Court found her allegations inconsistent and unsupported: she gave no details of the dowry demands, admitted in cross-examination that no motorcycle was given in dowry contrary to her pleadings, and her allegation against the father-in-law was improbable in light of her admission that he used to drop her to college. It granted divorce on the ground of cruelty and the wife appealed.

A Division Bench of Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill and Justice Ramesh Kumari agreed. It held that the wife meeting the other man alone on 11 January 2023, a single incident, did not mean she was living in adultery with him, nor did her pre-marriage relationship amount to adultery. It also held that her reckless and unsubstantiated allegations against the husband and his family, including imputations on the father-in-law's character and false claims of dowry harassment, amount to mental cruelty, and upheld the divorce. The wife's dowry and misconduct allegations were rejected on the evidence in this case.

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