Bombay High Court: Refusing physical relations, accusing husband of affairs and humiliating him in front of his friends/employees is cruelty

In the present appeal, the appellant-wife challenged the judgment passed by the Family Court on 28-11-2019, whereby her petition for the restitution of conjugal rights was dismissed and the counterclaim of the respondent-husband for divorce was allowed and the divorce was granted. The Division Bench of Revati Mohite Dere and Dr. Neela Gokhale*, JJ., opined that the wife’s behaviour with his husband’s employees, humiliating him in front of his friends, refusing sexual relations, and accusing him of extra-marital affairs were all instances of ‘cruelty’ that her husband was subjected to.

The Court dismissed the appeal and held that the judgment passed by the Family Court was well-reasoned because the wife subjected her husband to cruelty and had deserted him.

[X v. Y, 2025 SCC OnLine Bom 2665].