Karnataka HC Rejects Husband’s Divorce Appeal Over Unsupported Claim Wife Had Affair With His Father, Orders Rs 50,000 Costs

The parties married on 14 June 1998.

The husband alleged that they lived together for two to three months, after which the wife left the matrimonial home.

He also alleged that she had an illicit relationship with his father and sought divorce on grounds of cruelty and desertion under Section 13(1)(ia) and (ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

The wife denied the allegations and relied on records concerning the husband’s earlier, withdrawn divorce petition.

The Family Court dismissed the petition on 11 June 2018.

The husband appealed under Section 19(1) of the Family Courts Act, 1984.

The husband sought dissolution of marriage under Section 13(1)(ia) and (ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, on the grounds of cruelty and desertion; the appeal was brought under Section 19(1) of the Family Courts Act, 1984.

The Court applied the requirement that the petitioner prove the pleaded statutory grounds.

The judgment cites no precedent or further legal test.

The Court found that the husband had produced no evidence beyond his oral testimony to substantiate the alleged illicit relationship, and had not established physical or mental cruelty.

The wife’s evidence and Exhibits R1–R4 supported the Family Court’s finding that the husband had made false allegations and pursued successive proceedings.

The Court also noted that desertion had not been pleaded in the petition; the Family Court had further found that the husband, rather than the wife, had left the home.

The husband admitted in cross-examination that Prajwal was his son.

The High Court therefore found no error in the dismissal of the petition.

It ordered the husband to pay the wife costs of ₹50,000, to be deposited before the Family Court within one month; failing deposit, the wife may recover the amount in accordance with law.