The Delhi High Court has ruled that a wife pressuring her husband to sever ties with his family constitutes cruelty, upholding a family court's decision to dissolve a marriage. A bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar delivered the verdict on September 16, noting that repeated public humiliation and verbal abuse also amount to mental cruelty. The court quashed the wife's appeal against the family court's order, which had granted the divorce based on the grounds of cruelty.

The High Court emphasized that while the mere desire to live separately does not qualify as cruelty, persistent and pressurizing behavior aimed at severing a husband's bonds with his family is indeed a form of cruelty. The court observed that the wife consistently expressed her unwillingness to live in a joint family and pressured her husband to partition the family property and live separately from his widowed mother and divorced sister. The court also took note of the repeated threats and police complaints filed by the wife against her husband and his family, further substantiating the claims of cruelty.

Furthermore, the bench stated that denying the husband and his family emotional and physical access to their child was a significant act of cruelty. The court highlighted that the husband successfully demonstrated a sustained pattern of pressure, humiliation, threats, and alienation. Taken together, these actions went beyond the ordinary stresses of married life and constituted mental cruelty of such severity that the husband could not reasonably be expected to endure them. The husband's claims were supported by consistent and corroborated testimony.

The Delhi High Court referenced a Supreme Court holding that a wife's persistent efforts to alienate a husband from his parents constitute mental cruelty. The High Court also observed "From the evidence of the parties, it is evident that there was an unwarranted interference of the parents and the family members of the respondent in the matrimonial life of the appellant, as has been asserted by him".

In a similar case, the Delhi High Court had previously granted a divorce to a man, citing cruelty inflicted upon him by his wife, who was allegedly under the undue influence of her parents, hindering the establishment of a marital bond. The court observed substantial evidence indicating unwarranted interference by the wife's parents and family members in the couple's married life, causing significant distress to the husband. The court also considered the prolonged separation and the filing of false complaints as indicative of mental cruelty. The absence of conjugal companionship, coupled with the wife's reluctance to resume the matrimonial relationship, was deemed an act of extreme cruelty.

The Delhi High Court has also held that a woman repeatedly leaving her matrimonial home, without any fault of her husband is an act of mental cruelty. The court observed that marriage blooms in the fertile soil of mutual support, devotion and allegiance, and distance and abandonment breaks this bond beyond repair.

These rulings highlight the importance of maintaining familial relationships and the detrimental impact of alienating a spouse from their family. The courts have recognized that such behavior can constitute mental cruelty, providing grounds for divorce.