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Suman Singh v. Sanjay Singh

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal Nos. 7114-7115 of 2014)Decided 8 Mar 2017
Civil Appeal Nos. 7114-7115 of 2014
Justice R.K. Agrawal · Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre

Background

The husband filed for divorce against his wife in the Family Court on the ground of cruelty, listing nine instances of alleged misbehaviour such as not greeting relatives properly, lack of enthusiasm for family functions, and general unhelpfulness around the house. The Family Court granted the divorce and also dismissed the wife's separate petition for restitution of conjugal rights; the Delhi High Court upheld both rulings. The wife appealed to the Supreme Court, challenging both the grant of divorce to the husband and the denial of her own claim to resume married life together.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined each of the nine cruelty allegations and found most were vague, general, unsupported by specific details or evidence, or amounted to ordinary friction of married life rather than cruelty, while one isolated verbal exchange could not by itself justify divorce. It also rejected the husband's attempt to rely on grounds (extra-marital allegations, prolonged separation) that were never actually pleaded in his original petition. Having found the husband failed to prove cruelty, and that it was in fact he who had withdrawn from the marital relationship without reasonable cause, the Court allowed the wife's appeals, set aside the divorce decree, dismissed the husband's divorce petition, and granted the wife's petition for restitution of conjugal rights, while urging both parents to reconcile for the sake of their two daughters.

Lesson Learnt

Courts require specific, proven instances of cruelty, not vague or unparticularised allegations, before granting a divorce on that ground, and a party cannot rely at the appellate stage on grounds of cruelty that were never actually pleaded in the original petition.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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