Cruelty differs for man and woman, adopt broad approach in divorce: SC to courts

NT Bureau, Agencies

New Delhi: What is cruelty for a woman in a given case may not be cruelty for a man, and a relatively more elastic and broad approach is required when a court examines a case in which a wife seeks divorce, the Supreme Court has said while granting a decree of divorce to a woman.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh said the word 'cruelty' under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 has no fixed meaning, and therefore, gives a very wide discretion to the Court to apply it "liberally and contextually".

What is cruelty in one case may not be the same for another and it has to be applied from person to person while taking note of the attending circumstances, the bench said.

"Therefore, what is cruelty for a woman in a given case may not be cruelty for a man, and a relatively more elastic and broad approach is required when we examine a case in which a wife seeks divorce. Section 13(1) of the Act of 1955 sets contours and rigours for grant of divorce at the instance of both the parties," the bench said.

The bench said the facts of the case spoke for themselves. The couple had got married in 2002. It ran into rough weather after the birth of their child.

Disputes started between the parties from 2006. The bench noted the husband claimed it was his wife who had left the matrimonial home and also demanded a medical examination of the wife, alleging she was living in adultery and had given birth to a child during the period of non-cohabitation.

The request was rejected by the high court, the bench said, adding the couple has been living separately for a decade and half.

"It is needless to say that the courts will be guided by the principles of equity and may consider balancing the rights of the parties. The court, while applying these provisions, must adopt 'social-context thinking', cognisant of the social and economic realities, as well as the status and background of the parties," Justice Sundresh, who wrote the verdict on behalf of the bench, said.

The top court said courts must also keep in mind that the home which is meant to be a happy and loveable place, becomes a source of misery where the partners fight.

"When there are children they become direct victims of the said fights, though they may have no role in the breakdown of marriage,'' the court said.