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In re Sri Suchitra Kumar Singha Roy v. Smt. Arpita Singha Roy, the High Court of Calcutta held that initiation of false criminal proceedings against husband/family shall amount to cruelty. The merits of the case clarified that the respondent wife had no intention or willingness to live with the husband, held the court. The court also held that the wife had made deliberate allegations on the husband as her intention was to terminate the marriage. The court observed “…such acts of the respondent/wife, specially filing a criminal case and for which her husband and father-in-law languished in the custody amounts to cruelty so as to create an apprehension about life and, thus, it amounts to ground of divorce.”
Initially the matter was heared in the District court wherein the Appellant’s divorce petition was rejected. Challenging the said order, the husband had approached the High Court and submitted that his wife had filed complaint against him and his family under the sections 498A, 406, and 313 of the Indian Penal Code 1860.. Due to the said complaint, the local authorities had arrested him and his father for nine days submitted the appellant. The complaint filed by the respondent on the grounds of cruelty and miscarriage without her consent was later found to be mala fide complaint as it was not supported by any medical or material documents. The court had observed that the appellant had undergone hardship and loss of image and reputation in the society due to the false implications made by the wife. The court also referred to the matter of Raj Talreja V. Kavita Talreja, 2017 SCC 194 decided by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.
The court held that “Mere filing of complaints is not cruelty, if there are justifiable reasons to file the complaints. Merely because no action is taken on the complaint and on trial the accused is acquitted may not be a ground to treat such accusations of the wife as cruelty within the meaning of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (further referred as "the Act"). However, if it is found that the allegations are patently false, then there can be no manner of doubt that the said conduct of a spouse labelling false accusations against the other spouse would be an act of cruelty.” Conclusively, the divisional bench comprising of Justice Sampati Chatterjee and Justice Manojit Mandal had allowed the appeal and dissolved the marriage by the decree of divorce.
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