MAHARASHTRA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, MUMBAI

FAMILY LAW-I

SYNOPSIS

Topic- CONCEPT OF MENTAL CRUELTY: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

Semester II (December-May)

Submitted to: Prof. Saumya Uma Submitted By: Gopal Gour

Prof. Abhijeet Rohi Roll No. 2016020

 INTRODUCTION

The idea, the meaning and the concept of cruelty changes from time to time,
varies from place to place and differs from individual to individual. It is not the
same for persons situated in different economic conditions and status. Perhaps
this is the reason why the Legislature has not, in any of the Acts, categorically
defined as to what cruelty is and has left it to the best judgement of the Judiciary
to decide as to what amounts to cruelty to a particular person in a particular set of
circumstances. According to Tolstoy,

"Cruelty is a wilful and unjustifiable conduct which causes danger to

life, limb or health (bodily or mental) or gives rise to a reasonable
apprehension of such a danger."1

Wanton, malicious or unnecessary infliction of pain or suffering upon the feelings

or emotions of the spouse amounts to mental cruelty. Mental cruelty is usually
taken as a ground for divorce, subject to circumstances. When the behaviour of a
spouse makes other spouse’s life intolerable and unhappy, the ground of mental
cruelty can be raised.2 The situation has to be that the distress suffered by the
spouse due to the conduct of the other spouse has put her/his life, mental and
physical health in danger. It is not necessary that physical violence be involved.
It may be even words, gestures or by mere silence. For being cruel, it is necessary
that there must be intention to be cruel, and that intention must be aimed at the
petitioner, and the conduct or acts consisting cruelty must emanate from the
respondent.3

RESEARCH QUESTION:

 What is the yardstick or the parameter used by the courts to determine the
ambit of the word ‘mental cruelty’?

1
Dimitry Tolstoy, The Law and Practice of Divorce and Matrimonial Causes, 104 (1958)
2
https://definitions.uslegal.com/m/mental-cruelty/
3
Family Law, B.M. Gandhi, Vol. I , Eastern Book company, Lucknow.
METHODOLOGY:
The researcher will do the extensive research based on the primary and secondary
sources literature availability through the books, newspaper, journals,
Governmental reports, e-books and online articles etc. The researcher will do the
analysis of the polar judgments on the issue of being mental cruelty as one of the
grounds of divorce and try to find out the common parameter which is used in the
cases by the courts.

CHAPTERISATION:
i) INTRODUCTION
 Introduction will consist of the meaning of the word ‘cruelty’ in various
acts and the conditions for mental cruelty for divorce specified under the
Hindu Marriage Act.
ii) HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF CRUELTY AS A GROUND
 This chapter will focus on the history of the word cruelty as a ground for
divorce and the inclusion of the word in the statutes.
iii) CRITICAL ANALYSIS
 Samar Ghosh vs. Jaya Ghosh
 Naveen Kohli Vs. Neelu Kohli
 Mohd. Hoshan v. State of A.P.
 Gananath Pattnaik v. State of Orissa
 With the help of the abovementioned cases, the chapter will consist
of the comparative analysis of the cases where both the stands are
being taken by the courts.
iv) CONCLUSION
 In the conclusion, the researcher will try to infer from the critical
analysis of the abovementioned cases and try to find the yardstick that is
being used by the Supreme Court in the cases.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

STATUTES:
 The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
 Section 13 of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, provides for dissolution
of a Hindu marriage by a decree of divorce on 13 grounds. One of
them is cruelty.
 The Special Marriage Act, 1954
 Section 27 of The Special Marriage Act, 1954, provides for 12
grounds for divorce. One of them is cruelty.
 The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939
 Section 2 of The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, provides
for 8 grounds on which a woman married under the Muslim law is
entitled to obtain a decree for dissolution of her Marriage. One of
them is cruelty.
 The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936
 Section 32 of The Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936, provides for
11 grounds for divorce. One of them is cruelty.
 The Indian Divorce Act, 1869
 Section 10 of The Indian Divorce Act, 1869, provides for 7 grounds
of dissolution of marriage of Christians. One of them is adultery
coupled with cruelty.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS
 Samar Ghosh vs. Jaya Ghosh, (2007 4 SCC 511)
 This case is of a matrimonial dispute which has shattered the twenty
two year old matrimonial bond between the parties and the aggrieved
spouse was granted divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty.
 Naveen Kohli Vs. Neelu Kohli, (2006 812 of 2004)
 In the case, the court observed that the marriage and the bond between
the spouses has Irretrievably broken down; hence the spouse was
allowed to get divorce on the ground of mental cruelty.
  Mohd. Hoshan v. State of A.P., (2002 7 SCC 414)
 In this case, it was held that mental cruelty varies from person to
person depending upon the intensity of sensitivity and the degree of
courage or endurance to withstand such mental cruelty.
 Gananath Pattnaik v. State of Orissa, (2002 2 SCC 619)
 It was also held that the ground of mental cruelty can be subjected to
social and economic status to which such person belongs. It needs not
to be a physical one, even mental torture or abnormal behaviour may
amount to cruelty and harassment.

REPORTS:
 Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage – Another Ground for Divorce, Law
Commission of India, Government of India, Report No. 217, 2009.
 This is the report published by the law commission of India and gives
the recommendations regarding the changes in the definition of the
word cruelty.
 Section 498A IPC, Law Commission of India, and Government of India,
Report No. 243, 2012.
 This report has the definition of the word cruelty from the perspective
of the domestic violence and it helps us to look the meaning of the
word from different viewpoints.

BOOKS:
 Vol. I, B. M. Gandhi, Family Law (Ist Edition, Abhinandan Malik, 2012)
 This book is an introduction to family law and it gives the proper
insight to the grounds of divorce which includes mental cruelty as
well.
 B.M. Gandhi, Restitution of Conjugal Rights and Judicial Separation:
Sections 9 & 10, Hindu law, Eastern Book Company, Third edition.
 This book gives the valuable information regarding the meaning of
judicial separation and divorce. It also provides the historical
background of the word mental cruelty as being firstly added under
the clause of judicial separation.
JOURNALS:
 Vijender Kumar, Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage: Right of a Married
Couple, NALSAR Review, Vol. 5, 2010.
 This article emphasises on the ‘irretrievably breakdown of marriage’,
which has now become one of the grounds of the divorce. This
concept is also a little bit related to the mental cruelty.
 Meyer H. Weinstein, Mental Cruelty as Grounds for Divorce, Marquette
Law Review, Volume 17, 1933.
 This article stresses the definitions and facets of the word mental
cruelty in various acts and judgments and also challenges and tries to
find out the answers to basic questions like what degree of actions
amount to mental cruelty and should the courts be given the
discretionary power to decide in each case.

WEB LINKS:
 SC Definition Of Mental Cruelty For Divorce, Save Family Foundation, (
Jan 17, 2017, 7:23 P.M.), http://savefamily.in/57-sc-definition-of-mental-
cruelty-for-divorce.html
 This website gives the basic definition for a better and ground level
understanding of the word mental cruelty.

E-BOOKS REFERRED:
 A Comparative Study of Grounds available for the Dissolution of
Marriage Under Personal Laws in India, Shodhganga, (Jan 18, 2017, 2:34
P.M.),
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/54472/9/09_chapter%20
2.pdf
 This book refers to the comparison among the different grounds of the
divorce. It is important for this project because one of the factors of
comparison is cruelty as a ground.