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Marriage is a complex and emotional bond that requires mutual trust, respect, love, and compromise in order to thrive. It is governed by societal norms and laws, which have been put in place to reflect the changing social order. Divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage, allowing individuals to separate from their spouse and be released from their marital obligations, with certain exceptions.

The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 which governs marriages between Hindus as well as the Special Marriage Act, 1954 which governs marriages regardless of religious denominations both provide "cruelty" after the solemnization of a marriage as a ground of divorce. However, these acts do not provide a definition for the term "cruelty." It was first defined in the English case of Russel v. Russel in 1897, where "Cruelty was held to be a conduct of such character as to have caused danger to life or health, bodily or mentally, gives rise to reasonable apprehension of such danger. The definition includes both physical and mental cruelty within its scope but it also emphasizes on the typical nineteenth century belief that no act can amount to cruelty unless it creates an apprehension or actually causes injury to the petitioner".

In Shobha Rani v. Madhukar Reddi, 1988 AIR 121, while dealing cases involving "cruelty" under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Act, the Supreme Court held that “cruelty is being used in relation to human conduct or human behavior, it is all the more difficult to define it. It is the conduct in relation to or in respect of matrimonial duties and obligations. It is a course of conduct of one which is adversely affecting the other."

In Samar Ghosh v. Jaya Ghosh, Appeal (civil) 151 of 2004, the Court referred to Oxford Dictionary to understand the term 'Cruelty'. Oxford Dictionary defines "cruelty' as "the quality of being cruel; disposition of inflicting suffering; delight in or indifference to another's pain; mercilessness; hard-heartedness."

Cruelty Under Hindu Law:

Hindu marriage is a sacred union that is considered one of the most important sacraments in Hinduism. It is the recognized way for a man and woman to live together and fulfill their duties as husband and wife. After India gained independence in 1955, the Hindu Marriage Act was passed to govern all matters related to Hindu marriages. Prior to the 1976 amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act, cruelty was not a ground for divorce. Instead, it was only ground for seeking judicial separation under Section 10 of the Act. However, the amendment of 1976 made cruelty a ground for divorce.

Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act,1955 provides several grounds for divorce. According to section 13(1)(ia) of the act, “Any marriage solemnized, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, may, on a petition presented by either the husband or the wife, be dissolved by a decree of divorce on the ground that the other party has, after the solemnization of the marriage, treated the petitioner with cruelty”.

Cruelty Under Special Marriage Act

Under the Special Marriage Act,1954, cruelty is a valid ground for both divorce and judicial separation, as specified in Section 27 and 23 respectively. According to section 27(1)(d) of the Act, "Subject to the provisions of this Act and to the rules made thereunder, a petition for divorce may be presented to the district court either by the husband or the wife on the ground that the respondent—has since the solemnization of the marriage treated the petitioner with cruelty."

Types of Cruelty

Cruelty can be of two types:

Physical Cruelty: Physical cruelty refers to any type of violence, abuse, or threat that causes harm or puts the safety of an individual at risk. This can include physical attacks, bodily injuries, and threats to life, limb, or health. When one spouse perpetrates such actions against the other, it is considered as physical cruelty for the purpose of divorce.

Mental Cruelty: Mental cruelty has gained popularity in recent times. Black's Law Dictionary (8th Edn., 2004) defines the term ‘mental cruelty’ as “a ground for divorce, where one spouse's course of conduct (not involving actual violence) creates such anguish that it endangers the life, physical health, or mental health of the other spouse.”

In V. Bhagat vs. D. Bhagat, 1994 AIR 710, 1994 SCC(1) 337, the Hon'ble Supreme Court defined mental cruelty as "that conduct which inflicts upon the other party such mental pain and suffering as would make it not possible for that party to live with the other. In other words, mental cruelty must be of such a nature that the parties cannot reasonably be expected to live together".

In Praveen Mehta v. Inderjit Mehta, Appeal (civil) 3930 of 2002, the Apex court held that "Mental cruelty is a state of mind and feeling with one of the spouses due to the behavior or behavioral pattern by the other. Unlike the case of physical cruelty, the mental cruelty is difficult to establish by direct evidence. It is necessarily a matter of inference to be drawn from the facts and circumstances of the case."

Landmark Judgments:

In the case of Mayadevi v. Jagdish Prasad (2007), Appeal (civil) 877 of 2007. the wife consistently demanded money from her husband and on failure to give her, she would threaten him to “falsely implicate him in a case of dowry demand and to kill her children and thereby put the blame on him", the Supreme Court granted the husband the decree to dissolve the marriage on grounds of mental cruelty committed by the wife.

In K. Srinivas v. K. Sunita (2014), Civil Appeal No. 1213 of 2006, a woman filed a complaint under Section 498A, alleging mistreatment by her husband and his family. However, upon investigation, the court found that the complaint was a false one which the women had made only to “embarrass and incarcerate her husband and his family members.” The court ruled that this false complaint constituted cruelty on the part of the wife and granted the husband divorce.

In the case of Harbhajan Singh Monga v. Amarjeet Kaur, AIR 1986 MP 41, the Madhya Pradesh High Court held that “threats of committing suicide by one spouse constitutes cruelty to the other, thus it is valid legal ground to seek divorce”. 

References:

http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1900/Cruelty---as-a-ground-for-Divorce.html

https://blog.ipleaders.in/cruelty-as-a-ground-for-divorce/

https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/the-special-marriage-act-1954/