According To Madras HC, Removal Of Mangalsutra By Wife Itself Not Ground For 'Mental Cruelty'

Disclaimer: According to recent clarification issued on this report, the Madras High Court has not held removal of thali/mangalsutra by the wife would amount to mental cruelty to the husband. The HC, in fact, said that the removal of mangalsutra by itself cannot be a ground to presume mental cruelty.

Removal of 'thali' (Mangalsutra) by an estranged wife would amount to subjecting the husband to mental cruelty of the highest order, the Madras High Court has observed and granted divorce to the aggrieved man.

A division bench of Justices V M Velumani and S Sounthar observed while allowing a miscellaneous civil appeal from C Sivakumar, working as a professor in a medical college in Erode recently.

He sought to quash the orders dated June 15, 2016, of the local Family Court, refusing divorce to him.

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When the woman was examined, she admitted that at the time of separation, she removed her thali chain (sacred chain worn by the wife as a token of having married). Though she proceeded to explain that she retained the thali and only removed the chain, the act of removing it had its own significance.

By referring to Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, her counsel submitted that tying of thali is unnecessary. Hence, its removal by the wife, even assuming it was true, would not impact the marital tie.

But, it is a matter of common knowledge that tying of thali is an essential ritual in marriage ceremonies in this part of the world, the bench pointed out.

"No Hindu married woman would remove the thali"

The court also cited the orders of a division bench of the High Court, which stated that "from the materials available on record, it is also seen that the petitioner has removed the thali, and it is also her admission that she had kept the same in a bank locker. It was a known fact that no Hindu married woman would remove the thali at any point time during the lifetime of her husband.

"Thali around the neck of a woman was a sacred thing which symbolises the continuance of married life, and it is removed only after the husband's death. Therefore, its removal by the petitioner/wife can be said to be an act which reflected mental cruelty of the highest order as it could have caused agony and hurt the sentiments of the respondent," the bench had said.

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Applying the same yardstick, the present bench said removing the thali chain is often treated as an unceremonious act. "We don¡¯t say for a moment that removal of thali chain per se is sufficient to put an end to the marital knot, but the said act of the respondent (wife) is a piece of evidence in drawing an inference about the intentions of the parties. The respondent's act in removing the thali chain at the time of separation coupled with various other evidence available on record, compel us to come to a definite conclusion that the parties have no intention to reconcile and continue the marital knot," the bench said.

Court grants divorce

Besides, the bench noted that she had made allegations of extramarital affairs against the man with his female colleagues in the presence of co-workers, and students, and also before the police. In the light of the decisions of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, the judges said they have no hesitation in holding that the wife had caused mental cruelty to the husband by suspecting his character and making false allegations of an extramarital affair in the presence of others.

"We are given to understand that the appellant and his wife are living separately from 2011 onwards, and there is no evidence on record to show that the wife has made any attempt for a reunion during this period. Hence in the facts and circumstances of the case and also in view of our finding that the wife, by her act caused mental cruelty to the husband, we propose to put a full stop to the marital tie by granting a decree dissolving the marriage between the petitioner and the respondent (wife) that took place in November 2008," the bench said, set aside the lower court order and granted divorce to the petitioner.

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