Delhi High Court: Baseless Infidelity Allegations Amount to Mental Cruelty

The Delhi High Court held that making false, reckless, and unverified claims of infidelity against a spouse constitutes extreme cruelty.

A Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar observed that repeated baseless allegations, coupled with vexatious litigation, cause sustained harassment, humiliation, and mental agony.

The ruling arose from a case where a wife repeatedly accused her husband of an affair without proof. The Court upheld a family court’s divorce decree on grounds of cruelty, noting that marriage relies on mutual trust and respect and that unsubstantiated accusations make cohabitation unreasonable and impossible.