Published on: 19 November, 2025 20:55 IST
The Bombay High Court has held that repeated threats of suicide by a spouse constitute cruelty, and on this ground granted divorce to a man who had challenged a previous family court decision.
A division bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad, in an order passed last week and made available on Wednesday, observed that persistent threats or attempts to end one’s life make it impossible for the other spouse to continue the marriage in a peaceful environment.
The man had approached the High Court against a 2019 order of the family court that rejected his plea for divorce. According to his petition, the couple married in 2006 but had been living separately since 2012 due to serious marital discord. He claimed that the wife’s behaviour—including desertion, constant suspicion, and repeated threats and attempts to commit suicide—constituted cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act.
Noting that the parties had been separated for more than a decade, the bench said that neither reconciliation nor an amicable settlement was possible. It further observed that while the husband had cited multiple instances of cruelty, the family court had failed to consider them.
Relying on a Supreme Court precedent that categorises suicide threats by a spouse as cruelty, the High Court reiterated that repeated conduct of this nature—expressed through words, actions, or gestures—renders continuation of the marriage untenable.
The court also took note of the allegations of suspicion and suicide attempts, which it said reflected the wife’s conduct toward the husband.
Concluding that the marriage had irretrievably broken down, the bench held that continuing the relationship would only perpetuate cruelty. It therefore granted a decree of divorce.
As part of the final settlement, the court directed the man to pay ₹25 lakh to his wife and transfer ownership of two flats in her favour.