The Bombay High Court has held that repeated threats by a spouse to take their own life amount to mental cruelty, and on that ground granted divorce to a man whose plea had earlier been rejected by a family court.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad delivered the order last week, noting that when such conduct becomes repetitive, it turns the matrimonial relationship “impossible” to continue. The judgment became available on Wednesday.
The husband, who married in 2006, approached the High Court challenging a 2019 order of the family court that denied him divorce. The couple had been living separately since 2012 due to serious marital discord.
In his plea, the man cited multiple grounds — desertion, persistent suspicion, threats of suicide, and an actual attempt to commit suicide — to seek dissolution of marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act.
The bench observed that the couple had been separated for over a decade, and neither reconciliation nor amicable settlement was possible anymore. It noted that the husband had pointed to several specific acts of cruelty which the family court had failed to consider.
Referring to a Supreme Court judgment that categorises repeated suicide threats as cruelty, the bench reaffirmed that such behaviour gravely affects the other spouse.
Quoting the principle, the High Court said:
“When such conduct is repeated, whether through words, signs or gestures, it becomes impossible for the other spouse to continue in the matrimonial relationship in a peaceful environment.”
The judges added that the allegations of suspicion and the wife’s attempt to commit suicide reflected her conduct towards the husband and contributed to an atmosphere of cruelty.
Holding that the marriage had broken down beyond repair, the court said the situation made it “no longer possible for the couple to live together” and that continuing the marriage “would only perpetuate the cruelty, which the parties are inflicting on each other.”
The High Court granted the husband a decree of divorce and directed him to pay ₹25 lakh to his wife, along with transferring ownership of two flats to her as part of the final settlement.
