Highlights
- Removal of Mangalsutra would amount 'mental cruelty' for husband, ruled Madras HC.
- At the time of separation with her husband, the woman removed her mangalsutra.
- The court cited the orders of a division bench of the High Court.
Mangalsutra Madras HC ruling: The Madras High Court on Thursday observed that if an estranged wife removes the 'thali' chain or mangalsutra, it would amount to subjecting the husband to "mental cruelty of the highest order". As the court observed this, it granted the divorce to C Sivakumar, working as a professor in a medical college in Erode recently. He had made an appeal in the Madras High Court, which was heard by a division bench of Justices V M Velumani and S Sounthar, who made the observation.
When the woman was examined, she admitted that at the time of separation, she removed her thali chain (sacred chain worn by the wife as a token of having married). Though she proceeded to explain that she retained the thali and only removed the chain, the act of removing it had its own significance.
Her counsel, by referring to Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act submitted that tying of thali is not necessary and hence its removal by the wife, even assuming it was true, would not have any impact on the marital tie.
The court cited the orders of a division bench of the High Court, which stated that "from the materials available on record, it is also seen that the petitioner has removed the thali and it is also her own admission that she had kept the same in a bank locker. It was a known fact that no Hindu married woman would remove the thali at any point of time during the lifetime of her husband."
"Thali around the neck of a woman was a sacred thing which symbolizes the continuance of married life and it is removed only after the death of the husband. Therefore, its removal by the petitioner/wife can be said to be an act which reflected mental cruelty of the highest order as it could have caused agony and hurt the sentiments of the respondent," the bench had said.
Applying the same yardstick, the present bench said the removal of the thali chain is often treated as an unceremonious act. "We don’t say for a moment that removal of thali chain per se is sufficient to put an end to the marital knot, but the said act of the respondent (wife) is a piece of evidence in drawing an inference about the intentions of the parties. The act of the respondent in removing the thali chain at the time of separation coupled with various other evidence available on record, compel us to come to a definite conclusion that the parties have no intention to reconcile and continue the marital knot," the bench said.
Besides, the bench noted that she had made allegations of extramarital affairs against the man with his women colleagues in the presence of co-workers, and students, and also before the police.
(With PTI Inputs)
