Infidelity, By Either Spouse, Is On Equal Footing: Delhi HC

The Delhi HC has observed that an act of infidelity by either spouse, irrespective of the gender, has similar consequences that end up causing mental cruelty of same intensity. A family court judge had dismissed a petition filed by the husband seeking annulment of the marriage on grounds of desertion and cruelty. The court observed that the husband had to provide an explanation as to why so many women were calling him “ to remove the suspicion from the mind of his wife” . The court also observed that an allegation of infidelity made against the husband cannot be treated as mental torture. Allowing the appeal, the court said that where a marriage has broken down irretrievably, the insistence by one to continue with the matrimonial bond itself would be evidence of the desire to inflict further cruelty on the other. “ Since December, 2005 the couple have been living separately. They are past the prime of their lives. The children are major. No useful purpose would be served in maintaining the matrimonial bond,” the HC observed.

The Delhi HC's observation is just and sensible, for it is irrelevant who cheats in a marriage- the quantum of pain and suffering that follows is always the same. Many couples chose to work past infidelity, especially when one has been married for long, and others simply brush it beneath the carpet but without doubt, it wrecks the trust spouses have for each other. Then again when a marriage has broken down and there is no way the spouses can go back to living under the same roof as before, it is best to go their separate ways.