Spouse can cause mental cruelty by his or her conduct even though they are not residing jointly
In our opinion, the High Court wrongly held that because the appellant-husband and the respondent-wife did not stay together there is no question of the parties causing cruelty to each other. Staying together under the same roof is not a pre-condition for mental cruelty. Spouse can cause mental cruelty by his or her conduct even while he or she is not staying under the same roof. In a given case, while staying away, a spouse can cause mental cruelty to the other spouse by sending vulgar and defamatory letters or notices or filing complaints containing indecent allegations or by initiating number of judicial proceedings making the other spouse’s life miserable. This is what has happened in this case.
Supreme Court of India
K. Srinivas Rao vs D.A. Deepa on 22 February, 2013
Bench: Aftab Alam, Ranjana Prakash Desai
