Madras HC 'thaali' and cruelty case: What the court said

The Madras High Court on July 5 granted divorce to a man on grounds of cruelty by his wife. Observing the woman’s actions of insinuating that he has extra-marital relationships with his colleagues without any evidence, and later, at the time of separation, removing her thali (mangalsutra) as an indication of wanting to end the marriage, the court granted the divorce.

According to the court order, the woman had gone to the workplace of her husband, who works as a professor at a medical college, and insinuated publicly that he was having affairs with his female colleagues. She accused him in front of colleagues and students of having relationships with the women. The woman made ‘a general denial’ of these in her argument; she also alleged domestic violence when she asked her husband about these alleged relationships. “But the petitioner was having illegal intimacy with other working women and he was speaking [with them] till midnight every day. The petitioner was beaten blue and black while she made enquiry regarding cell phone conversation till midnight,” she had argued, as per the court order. The court concluded, however, that the doubts that the woman had about her husband’s fidelity were unfounded because he was merely speaking with women colleagues over the phone.

The woman had also filed a police complaint, alleging that the man was having extra-marital affairs with his female colleagues without naming anyone or providing any other evidence. The court observed that such a complaint, which is not backed by evidence, amounts to cruelty. Defamatory allegations against the spouse, filing complaints which may have adverse effect on the spouse's job, or repeated false complaints and court cases also amount to cruelty, the court said.

However, the counsel for the wife denied the allegations, and said that the woman had only “preferred complaint to police, only with a good intention of seeking reunion and hence the same cannot be termed as causing mental cruelty to the husband.” However the court observed that she did not have any intention of reuniting with her husband, and cited her removing her thali as evidence of this. “Though she proceeded to explain that she retained thali and only removed the chain, the act of removing thali chain had its own significance. The learned counsel for the respondent…submitted that tying of thali is not a necessary one and hence removal of thali by respondent, even assuming it was true, would not have any impact on the marital tie. But, it is a matter of common knowledge that tying of thali is an essential ritual in marriage ceremonies that takes place in this part of the world,” the court said.

“We don't say for a moment that removal of thali chain per se sufficient to put an end to the marital knot, but the said act of respondent is a piece of evidence in drawing an inference about the intentions of the parties. The act of respondent in removal of thali chain at the time of separation coupled with various other evidences 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 court added.

The husband had, in 2015, approached the family court in Erode seeking divorce on the grounds of cruelty. However, considering the evidence, the court did not grant the divorce. The man then moved the Madras High Court to quash the family court’s orders.

Corrigendum: An earlier version of this article said that the Madras High Court had called the removal of the thali by a wife amounted to mental cruelty. We published it from a wire service, PTI, and upon seeing the actual order of the Madras High Court, we have changed the relevant portions of the article to reflect the court’s actual judgment. We regret the error.