Madhya Pradesh High Court: False Allegation of Alcoholism Is Mental Cruelty

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that a wife’s false accusation branding her husband as an alcoholic constitutes mental cruelty, entitling him to divorce. The Court observed that such unfounded claims not only damage a spouse’s social standing but also destroy the foundation of marital trust.

A Division Bench of Justices Vishal Dhagat and Anuradha Shukla stated that ridiculing a spouse in public by calling him an alcoholic amounts to mental cruelty and is a valid ground for divorce.

“In this case, the wife, to escape marital obligations, made baseless allegations about her husband’s drinking habits and subjected him to social embarrassment. Her act of false accusation has a decisive impact on the marital relationship,” the Bench noted.

Case Background

Married in 2004, the couple has two children and have lived apart since 2017. The wife had earlier filed a domestic violence case, which was later dismissed.
In 2018, the husband sought divorce citing cruelty and defamation through false allegations. The wife opposed the plea, claiming harassment and asserting that the couple had earlier reconciled after an apology.

In 2021, a family court denied divorce, stating that the husband was a habitual drinker. The husband appealed the decision before the High Court.

Court’s Findings

After carefully reviewing the records, the High Court found no evidence proving that the husband was a habitual drinker. The Court observed that:

• No document established regular drinking after 2011.
• The wife’s 2015 police complaint led to no action.
• The husband’s sworn affidavit denied all such claims convincingly.

The judges concluded that the family court had wrongly inferred alcoholism without substantial proof. They also noted that while the husband was a Class IV employee and the wife held a higher post in a public sector organisation, her deliberate attempt to humiliate him socially was significant.

“Ordinary quarrels cannot be treated as grave. But when a spouse persistently tries to project the other as an alcoholic in public, it causes deep humiliation and mental agony,” the Court held.

Accordingly, the High Court set aside the family court’s ruling and granted the husband a decree of divorce.