Filing false complaint against spouse is mental cruelty: HC
COURT GRANTS DIVORCE
MUMBAI: Filing a false criminal complaint by either spouse against the other constitutes mental cruelty and entitles the other spouse to claim a divorce, the Bombay High Court has upheld.
Citing a 2014 apex court order on the above lines, the High Court, in a recent judgement, allowed an appeal filed by a Thane resident against a lower court judgement that had denied him permission to divorce his wife even after he submitted that she had filed several complaints against him and his family members under the DV Act against him leading to his arrest and subsequent acquittal in all the cases by a court.
Justice RD Dhanuka of A lower court denied Mangesh Bhoir the divorce on the ground that in those six years before marriage, he had taken advantage of his wife by making a false promise of marriage
Justice RD Dhanuka of the Bombay HC, however, allowed Bombay HC allowed the appeal filed by Mangesh Bhoir and ruled that the lower court had erred in denying him a divorce and ignoring the fact that Bhoir had been implicated by his wife in two separate cases even before their marriage.
Bhoir’s plea had been rejected by the lower court after his wife submitted that the two of them the appeal filed by Bhoir and ruled that the lower court had erred in denying him a divorce “In my view, the order passed by the lower court is totally erroneous and contrary to law laid down by the Supreme Court and this court holding that if the wife had filed a had been staying together for six years before their marriage and Bhoir had refused to marry her at the time despite having made promises to the effect.
She further said that it was only after she filed two complaints against him under the DV Act that he agreed to marry her.
After their marriage in 2002, she withdrew the complaints. However, in 2004, after Bhoir filed for divorce, his wife filed a fresh complaint under the DV Act against him and his family members.
Bhoir, his father and some of his relatives were arrested as a result and had to face trial following which they were subsequently acquitted. “It is a welcome step, but there is no clarity on counselling. Who will counsel the offenders — police or RTO? Do they have a mechanism in place for it,” asked a senior RTO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Elaborating on the technicalities, a senior RTO official said a licensing authority such as RTO can revoke a driver’s licence or disqualify a driver, but they cannot suspend the licence without permission from the court.
Raote said the enforcing authorities plan stringent action against drivers caught driving under the influence of liquor or drugs. “We have directed the police to file a case in the court, along with suspension of driver’s licence. The authorities have been asked to seek imprisonment, even for firsttime offenders,” the minister said.
He said the decision was part of the Road Safety Campaign 2016. Maharashtra accounts for more than 13% of road accidents in India.
RTO officials said barring drink driving and overloading, the penalty prescribed for other offences is not very high, so people think nothing of paying the amount and driving off.