Supreme Court: In the case where the wife made reckless, defamatory and false accusations against her husband, his family members and colleagues, thereby lowering his reputation in the eyes of his peers, the Court held that mere filing of complaints is not cruelty, if there are justifiable reasons to file the complaints. Merely because no action is taken on the complaint or after trial the accused is acquitted may not be a ground to treat such accusations of the wife as cruelty within the meaning of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955. However, if it is found that the allegations are patently false, then there can be no manner of doubt that the said conduct of a spouse levelling false accusations against the other spouse would be an act of cruelty.
Considering the fact that later, the wife had filed another complaint alleging that her husband along with some other persons had trespassed into her house and assaulted her and that the police found, on investigation, that not only was the complaint false but also the injuries were self-inflicted by the wife, the Court held that though the acts of the wife in filing false complaints against the husband amounts to cruelty, the Court is, however, not oblivious to the requirements of the wife to have a decent house where she can live and since, her son and daughter-in-law may not continue to live with her forever, therefore, some permanent arrangement has to be made for her alimony and residence. As per the facts of the case, the wife continues to live in the house which belongs to the mother of the husband whereas the husband lives along with his parents in a separate house and the son and daughter-in-law of the parties live with the wife. The son is working with the husband.
The Bench of A.K. Goel and Deepak Gupta, JJ, hence, directed the husband to pay to the wife a sum of Rs. 50,00,000 as one time permanent alimony within 3 months and she will not claim any further amount at any later stage. The Court also directed that the wife shall continue to live in the house which belongs to the mother of the husband till the husband provides her a flat of similar size in a similar locality. For this purpose, the husband is directed to ensure that a flat of the value up to Rs. 1,00,00,000 be transferred in the name of his wife. [Raj Talreja v. Kavita Talreja, 2017 SCC OnLine SC 462, decided on 24.04.2017]