Chandigarh: In a significant ruling, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that a husband’s unexplained close relationship with another woman constitutes mental cruelty towards his wife, thereby entitling her to seek dissolution of marriage.
The Court observed that the sanctity of marriage is based on trust, and any conduct that shatters that trust amounts to cruelty under matrimonial laws. It noted that while a mere casual friendship may not be sufficient to establish cruelty, sustained and unexplained intimacy with another woman, without providing a reasonable justification to the wife, deeply wounds the marital bond and the dignity of the spouse.
The Bench emphasized that emotional betrayal is as serious as physical violence in matrimonial relations and stated that unexplained and inappropriate closeness with another woman causes mental agony and suffering, which the aggrieved spouse should not be expected to endure.
The High Court, setting aside the findings of the lower court, granted a decree of divorce to the wife under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, on the ground of cruelty.
