News Citation : 2026 LN (HC) 36
Ranchi, January 08, 2026 : The Jharkhand High Court has set aside a Family Court judgment and granted divorce to a woman on the ground of mental cruelty, holding that the conduct of the husband amounted to character assassination and irreparable breakdown of trust in the marriage. The Division Bench comprising Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai delivered the verdict on January 7, 2026, in First Appeal No. 327 of 2023.
The appeal arose from a 2023 decision of the Additional Family Court in Dhanbad, which had dismissed the wife’s petition for divorce under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The couple was married in March 2020. Within months, the relationship deteriorated sharply, with the wife alleging that her husband accessed private photographs from her mobile phone, used them to threaten and humiliate her, and showed them to his family members. She claimed this led to sustained mental harassment, public shaming within the family, and eventual expulsion from the matrimonial home.
Before the High Court, the wife argued that the Family Court failed to properly assess the evidence and ignored the impact of emotional blackmail, humiliation, and threats on her dignity and mental well-being. The husband denied the allegations, asserted that he was willing to continue the marriage, and claimed that the dispute stemmed from the wife’s past relationship prior to marriage.
After reappreciating the oral evidence and the surrounding circumstances, the High Court found that the Family Court had overlooked crucial aspects of mental cruelty. The Bench observed that mental cruelty is not confined to physical violence and includes conduct that causes deep emotional distress, humiliation, and damage to reputation. The court noted that sharing private photographs with family members and using a spouse’s past to intimidate or shame her strikes at the core of marital trust and dignity.
The judgment emphasised that marriage rests on mutual respect and confidence, and once that foundation is destroyed, forcing parties to continue together serves no purpose. The court held that the husband’s conduct amounted to mental cruelty of such gravity that it made cohabitation unreasonable and unsafe for the wife. Consequently, the High Court termed the Family Court’s decision as perverse for failing to consider the evidence in the correct legal perspective and allowed the appeal, dissolving the marriage.
With this ruling, the High Court has reinforced that emotional blackmail, character assassination, and sustained humiliation can independently constitute mental cruelty warranting divorce, even in the absence of proven physical violence.
Case Reference: First Appeal No. 327 of 2023, Debleena Dutta, Dhanbad v. Suman Kumar Ruj, West Burdwan; Counsel for the Appellant: Mr. Sanjay Prasad, Advocate; Counsel for the Respondent: Mr. Abhijeet Kr. Singh, Advocate, Mr. Shashank Kumar, Advocate, and Mr. Harsh Chandra, Advocate.
