Allegation made by husband cannot be proved by wife: HC

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has set aside the decree of divorce granted by a family court after it found that the lower court had asked the wife to prove the allegation that was made by the husband.

The husband had pleaded that his wife was suspicious about him having an affair with his sister-in-law. The suspicion allegedly arose after he refused to remove the sister-in-law’s photograph from their bedroom. The wife had denied this allegation. But the family court had granted divorce stating the wife had failed to prove the allegation of illicit relationship between her husband and his sisterin-law.

The wife filed an appeal in the High Court in The HC, setting aside the family court order said, “The Family Court has given a finding that the appellant (wife) has made reckless allegations against the respondent (husband) about his illicit relationship with his sisterin-law and the appellant has failed to prove the said statement by substantiating proper evidence to prove the allegation of adultery.

The Family Court has lost sight that it is the respondent who has placed specifically in the petition that the appellant has tried to remove the photos of the respondent’s niece for that the respondent objected and requested the appellant not to remove the said photos and that time, the appellant became suspicious and alleged that the petitioner was in illicit relationship with his sister-in-law.” The HC held that the findings of the family court were incorrect.

“The finding of the Family Court that no evidence has been placed by the appellant to substantiate the allegation of adultery is perverse and contrary to the evidence on record. The Family Court has further recorded a finding that the very fact of alleging adulterous relationship with his sister-in-law amounts to mental cruelty. The aforesaid finding is perverse, the appellant has only denied the allegations made in the petition,” the HC said. The Division Bench of the HC comprising Justice Alok Aradhe and Justeice Vijaykumar A Patil also found that the grounds of mental cruelty for granting the divorce was wrong.

“Mere pleading of cruelty and reiteration of the same in his affidavit would not constitute mental cruelty unless it is supported with corroborative evidence of independent witness. The Family Court has erred in appreciating these aspects, which has resulted in giving erroneous findings,” the HC said. The couple, from Manipal, married in 2007 and lived in Bengaluru after their marriage.

The husband filed for divorce in 2010 which was granted by the family court in 2016. The wife challenged it in the HC with an appeal which was disposed of by the court recently