Bigamy Complaint Against Constable Husband and 498A Case Ending in Acquittal Are Cruelty: Rajasthan High Court Dissolves Marriage

The husband sought divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, alleging cruelty and saying that the wife had left the matrimonial home in April 2009 and refused to return, including in his Section 9 proceedings (para 2). She denied the allegations, alleged dowry demands and said that he, a police constable, wanted to marry again (para 3). The Family Court dismissed his application on 02.09.2021 (para 6). In appeal, he relied on his acquittal in the Section 498A case she had lodged and on the police closure of her complaint under Sections 494 and 120B IPC; she said she was still ready to live with him (paras 8-9).

The Court relied on Supreme Court rulings, including Rani Narasimha Sastry (a husband acquitted after a Section 498-A trial has suffered cruelty) and Raj Talreja (patently false accusations by a spouse are cruelty) (para 12). The wife had complained under Sections 494 and 120B IPC knowing that the husband was a police constable; the police filed a negative final report, which was accepted. The Court held that she had tried to malign his image in the department, which amounted to cruelty (para 14). It described the Section 498A case, in which the husband and his family members were acquitted, as a ‘false criminal case’ and held that lodging it amounted to cruelty, while recording that her appeal against the acquittal is still pending (para 15). Asking spouses who had lived apart for more than 15 years to live together would be cruelty to both (para 16). Living separately since 2009, the wife had made an adultery allegation proved neither before the Family Court nor before the Criminal Court, and had deserted the husband without any justified reason; the Court quoted Malathi Ravi on desertion (paras 17-18). The Family Court's finding on issue No. 1 was perverse (para 19).