In a landmark judgment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has defended the character of employed women, stating that having a job does not imply moral corruption. The ruling was made in a divorce case where baseless allegations of adultery were made against a woman by her husband.
The case involved a lawyer who accused his wife of having an affair with a judge she had previously worked with. These accusations were initially accepted by the trial court, which granted the divorce. However, the High Court criticized this decision, emphasizing that modern women are excelling in all fields, not just within the confines of an office but in business ventures too.
Justice Sudhir Singh and Harsh Bangar of the division bench highlighted the significance of women’s roles in contemporary society, and remarked that assuming a woman has illicit relationships simply because she works or travels with male colleagues is an outdated and damaging perspective.
The High Court pointed out that such allegations not only tarnish the reputation of the wife but also insult all women. The trial court had also erroneously accepted the husband’s claims of cruelty and prostitution, which included allegations that the wife did not want to maintain sexual relations, neglected his disabled mother, and had stolen a t-shirt, leading to public embarrassment.
Moreover, the husband claimed his wife had defamed him by calling him impotent among her friends and had illicit relations with a former judge who was dismissed on corruption charges. The wife refuted all allegations, citing that she had been subjected to abuse due to excessive dowry demands by her mother-in-law.
In their judgment, the High Court declared that accusations of adultery must be substantiated with credible evidence in court, and mere assertions are insufficient to establish such serious claims. The court also discovered that the wife had to share accommodation with another person in Australia due to a flood—a situation unrelated to any marital infidelity.
Ultimately, while the court acknowledged that the wife had indeed filed several complaints against her husband and his mother, indicating some truth to the cruelty claims, it overturned the trial court’s decision. The High Court concluded that the divorce should not be based on the grounds of adultery, thus defending the dignity and integrity of working women against baseless moral scrutiny.
