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The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, which governs marriages between Hindus, as well as the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which governs marriages regardless of religious denominations, contain an identical ground for divorce, “cruelty” after solemnization of the marriage.

The Hindu Marriage Act,1955 contains several grounds for divorce. According to section 13(1) (ia), 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.

The Act does not define the term "cruelty." It was defined for the first time in the English case of Russel v. Russel (1897), where the court stated that to constitute cruelty, there must be a danger to life or injury to health, bodily or mental, or a reasonable apprehension of it.

Types of cruelty

Cruelty may be classified as physical cruelty and mental cruelty.

Physical cruelty:

Any physical violence, bodily injuries, or a threat to life, limb, or health would be considered physical cruelty on the spouse. Assault is a serious offence and is defined under section 351 of the Indian Penal Code. Section 320 of the Indian Penal Code defines grievous hurt.

Mental cruelty:

Mental cruelty has gained acceptance in today's society, despite the fact that it is difficult to prove in court due to the lack of tangible consequences. Cruelty does not always have to be physical pain. It can also be an emotional pain. The Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed., 2004) defines the term "mental cruelty" as “without actual violence, the behavior of a spouse that endangers life, physical health, or mental health of the other spouse.”

Landmark Cases:

In Shobha Rani v Madhukar Reddi (1988), the wife claimed that the husband and his parents demanded dowry. The Supreme Court emphasised in its decision that "cruelty" has no fixed definition. According to the court, "cruelty" can be defined as "conduct in relation to or in respect of matrimonial obligations." The spouse suffers as a result of the conduct. Cruelty can be "mental" or "physical," intentional or unintentional. Physical cruelty is less ambiguous and more "a question of fact and degree." To determine whether something is mental cruelty, the nature of the cruel treatment must be examined, as well as the mental impact of it on the spouse, and whether it causes reasonable apprehension in the spouse's mind that living with the other spouse would be "harmful" or "injurious." Cruelty is ultimately a matter of inference, which must be drawn by considering the nature of the conduct and its impact on a complaining spouse.

In the case of V. Bhagat vs. D. Bhagat (1994), the wife claimed in her written statement that her husband had "mental problems and paranoid disorder." While the husband was being cross-examined, the wife's lawyer levelled accusations of "lunacy" and "insanity" against him and his family. The supreme court ruled that leveling such allegations by the wife against the husband constituted "cruelty."

In the case of Vijaykumar Ramchandra Bhate vs Neela VijayKumar Bhate, (2003), In his written statement, the husband claimed that his wife was "unchaste" and had "indecent familiarity" with someone outside of marriage, and that she was having an extramarital affair. Given the context of an educated Indian woman, such allegations  by the husband constituted mental cruelty on the wife.

In Samar Ghosh vs Jaya Ghosh (2007), a matrimonial case involving two IAS officers, the husband claimed that his wife made the decision to not have a child unilaterally and refused to allow him to show affection to her daughter (from her first marriage). She also showed little concern for his health, refusing to cook for him and asking him to leave her flat, humiliating him, and refusing to cohabit with him. The Supreme court held that the wife's actions amounted to mental cruelty and upheld the trial court's decision to grant the husband divorce.

In Joydeep Majumdar vs Bharti Jaiswal Majumdar (2021), the Supreme Court heard a case where the husband accused his wife of mental cruelty for making allegations of adultery and defamatory complaints to his superiors in the army and other authorities, which resulted in a court of inquiry and harmed his career. The court ruled that it was an act of mental cruelty regardless of whether the allegations were proven in a court of law or not.

In Mayadevi vs. Jagdish Prasad (2007), the court determined that any type of mental cruelty suffered by any spouse, not just the woman, but also the man, could result in divorce on the ground of cruelty. In this case, the respondent filed for divorce as a result of his wife's repeated acts of cruelty, including the husband's (respondent's) allegation that the wife refused to feed him and his children and instead criticized the husband and his family members on a daily basis.

References:

https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-7214-cruelty-as-a-ground-for-divorce.html

https://m.thewire.in/article/law/supreme-court-cruelty-ground-for-divorce