The Chhattisgarh High Court has issued an important ruling in a marital dispute and divorce case. A division bench of Justices Sanjay K. Agarwal and Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal held that cruelty cannot be proven in the absence of evidence, and that if an incident did occur, the husband later forgave the victim.

Furthermore, according to Section 23(1)(b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, if cruelty is condoned, it is not grounds for divorce. The High Court upheld the Family Court's order in the case and dismissed the husband's appeal.

In fact, a young man from Janjgir married a woman from Sargaon in Mungeli district on December 11, 2020. Their daughter was born in October 2022, after which tensions between the two wives began to rise. A dispute then ensued.

The husband alleged that he received abusive calls from three unknown numbers and threatened to make his wife's alleged pornographic videos viral. The husband alleged that his wife left the home on March 29, 2023.

The family court dismissed the case due to lack of evidence.

Following this, on April 4, 2023, the husband filed an application in the Family Court seeking divorce under the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act. After hearing the husband and wife's arguments, the Janjgir Family Court dismissed the petition on August 20, 2024, stating that cruelty on the part of the husband was not proven. The husband appealed this decision in the High Court.

Husband's allegation – wife used to keep three SIM cards

The husband told the High Court that three SIM cards were found on his wife during a social gathering in November 2022. After reconciliation, the two lived together for some time. He alleged that on March 16, 2023, his wife threatened to implicate him in a false dowry and witchcraft case. This led to a dispute between the two. His wife later left him and went to her parents' home.

The wife said she wanted to live with her husband.

The wife denied all the allegations, stating that her husband had been having a dispute with his brother, and that they wanted to live separately. Later, when the dispute arose, her husband began making false accusations to try to leave her. She told the court that she was still willing to live with her husband.

Husband could not provide evidence of mental cruelty

After hearing both sides, the High Court dismissed the husband's appeal, stating that under the law, cruelty is not proven due to lack of evidence, and that even if an incident had occurred, the husband had forgiven her.

According to the provision, if cruelty is condoned, it is not grounds for divorce. The couple lived together from November 2022 to March 29, 2023, which clearly shows that the husband condoned any alleged cruelty.