Falsely accusing one's spouse of having an extra-martial affair amounts to cruelty,the Supreme Court has ruled,while granting divorce to a businessman,whose wife had made the allegations in an advertisement in a local daily. A bench of justices Deepak Verma and Dipak Misra set aside the concurrent findings of the trial court and the Bombay High Court which took a contrary view that there was no substance in the allegations. The apex court while granting divorce to the Vishwanath Agrawal,however,granted a permanent alimony of Rs 50 lakh to the wife Sau Sarla. The bench also said the businessman's wife had falsely levelled allegations of cruelty against the husband and his father which had caused mental agony to them entitling Vishwanath to a decree for divorce. "The respondent-wife did not bother to think what impact it would have on the reputation of the husband and what mental discomfort it would cause. "It is manifest from the material on record that the children were staying with the father. Such a publication in the newspaper having good circulation can cause trauma,agony and anguish in the mind of any reasonable man. "The explanation given by the wife to the effect that she wanted to protect the interests of the children,as we perceive,is absolutely incredible and implausible," said Justice Misra writing the judgement for the bench. Apart from making the allegation in an advertisement to the newspaper,the businessman's wife had repeated it in her plea for interim maintenance too saying that her husband was was "a womaniser and drunkard." "This pleading was wholly unwarranted and,in fact,amounts to a deliberate assault on the character. Thus,we have no scintilla of doubt that the uncalled for allegations are bound to create mental agony and anguish in the mind of the husband," the apex court said. The bench said bot the husband and the father-in-law have been acquitted of the charges of cruelty levelled against them under Section 498A which indicated that the allegations were false. "The said decision of acquittal has not been assailed before the higher forum. Hence,the allegation on this count was incorrect and untruthful and it can unhesitatingly be stated that such an act creates mental trauma in the mind of the husband as no one would like to face a criminal proceeding of this nature on baseless and untruthful allegations," Justice Misra said. According to the bench,the woman had inserted the ad despite the fact that the couple had two grown up children who had subsequently got married. "In fact,it can decidedly be said that it was mala fide and the motive was to demolish the reputation of the husband in the society by naming him as a womaniser,drunkard and a man of bad habits. "In our considered opinion,a normal reasonable man is bound to feel the sting and the pungency. The conduct and circumstances make it graphically clear that the respondent-wife had really humiliated him and caused mental cruelty. "Her conduct clearly exposits that it has resulted in causing agony and anguish in the mind of the husband," the court said.
