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New Delhi. The Supreme Court has given a very important decision regarding marital disputes. The court has said that differences between husband and wife are a normal part of marital life and can sometimes lead to communication breakdown. The Court clarified that a husband cannot be held guilty of cruelty (Section 498A) merely on the basis of not talking to his wife for a few days.

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What was the whole matter?

This case is from Tamil Nadu, where a woman committed suicide by hanging herself in her maternal house. The prosecution’s allegation was that the husband had expressed displeasure over his wife going to her parents’ house without informing him and had not talked to him on phone for the last 13 days. Hurt by the conversation being stopped, the woman took this step. Apart from this, the family had also made allegations of dowry harassment. The lower court and the Madras High Court had found the husband guilty and sentenced him to three years in prison, against which the husband approached the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court decision

Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar’s bench overturned the High Court’s decision and acquitted the husband. The court said in its decision that without any concrete evidence, not talking for just 13 days does not fall within the scope of cruelty. The bench clarified that in cases under Section 498A, the onus is on the prosecution to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt and the accused does not need to prove his innocence. The court also noted that in such cases it is necessary to see whether the incident was serious enough to compel someone to commit suicide, while no such evidence was found in this case.

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