Download Concept of cruelty and it's changing dimensions and more Thesis Law in PDF only on Docsity!
CHAPTER 3
CONCEPT OF CRUELTY AND ITS LEGISLATIVE
DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Marriage is the very foundation of a secure and civilized society. One of the fundamental sanskars of every community is marriage. Marriage, which is regarded as a sacred institution, essentially comprises three characteristics:
- It is enduring
- The union is permanent
- The union is holy According to the accepted theory of modern western family law, a marriage must be a voluntary agreement between the parties for it to be valid. As a result, consent plays a crucial role in the creation of a marriage contract. But as time has gone on, society has changed and what was once thought of as an irrevocable union marriage, no longer holds true. The reason behind is the ongoing trend of separation that is divorce which is now recognized. According to estimates, the number of divorces has increased over the last 20 years. This increase may be caused by a variety of circumstances, including family interference, women's increasing independence, human rights awareness, or education. However, according to Indian law, a divorce can only be granted when one of the spouses is at fault and has failed to uphold the terms of the marriage. As a result, one is constrained by certain circumstances and finds it difficult to end a marriage. Cruelty is one of the most popular reasons for divorce. Cruelty generally means the matrimonial act which causes pain and distress of any kind like physical, mental, economical to others. Since "the acts or behavior constituting cruelty can be so many and varied that it would be impossible to fit them into any one term," the legislature has not provided a clear definition of cruelty. Section 10 of the Indian Divorce Act, 1869 says,” treated the petitioner with such cruelty as to cause reasonable apprehension in the mind of the petitioner that it would be harmful or injurious for the petitioner to live with respondent”.
Black Law Dictionary explains cruelty as: “Intentional and malicious infliction of physical suffering upon living creatures particularly human beings, or as applied to the latter, the wanton, malicious and unnecessary infliction of pain upon the body or the feeling and emotions”. The Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce in its report (1956) quoted: “We consider that it is not proper to have a detailed definition, but to allow the concept of cruelty to remain open to such adjustments as it is desirable to make through the media of judicial decisions so as to accord with the changing social conditions”.
CHRONICLED CONCEPT OF CRUELTY
Cruelty has been winning since historical instances all over the global in a totally brutal form; even many famous jurists justified and supported it. For example- below the vintage English Law, Blackstone pronounces that the husband ought to accurate his spouse even via way of means of beating her. In Hindu historical history, there may be a comparable scenario too. According to Manu, if required, the husband has all of the right to conquer his spouse however handiest from gown or splitting bamboo in order that no bones had been damaged withinside the process”. Considering the statements of those human beings we will think that the fame of girls in in advance society become miserable, and there has been no such regulation that ruled the problem of cruelty in matrimonial lifestyles and after thinking about diverse stigmas withinside the non-public lifestyles of a Hindu, the parliament determined to enact the regulation associated with the Hindu marriage and cruelty called The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 got here into existence. ANCIENT PERIOD: During the Vedic period, there was no discrimination and women were treated equally when it came to education, art, music, etc. In the post Vedic period, the position of the women declined steadily. Women became taken into consideration to be someone of second order. In no time should she surpass the man's capacities and capabilities. She needed to obey his command. Prior to the wedding the father became her master, throughout covertures she became certain to obey her husband. When she became a widow, it became the son who covered and managed her. Her lifestyles should continually be subservient to the above noted men. The husband had entire manage over the thoughts and frame of his spouse, without his consent, a spouse had no proper to carry out even a non secular act. Husband had the proper to apply bodily corrective techniques over his erring spouse which became the identical as the ones possessed through an instructor over a student or a father over a son, viz. he ought to administer beating with a rope or skinny piece of bamboo at the lower back however never at the hand. MEDIEVAL PERIOD:
live in it, among whom she stands. The treatment he received at his in-laws' home is indescribable. She must put up with all kinds of humiliation, torture, molestation etc. So, we see that the condition of Indian women is very shocking. The lives of women in India continue to be surrounded by violence, abandonment, and exploitation. What is the price for a woman's housework day and night? Love is the reward, but where's the husband and in-laws' reward? Maybe nowhere but in the fire of his clothes and body. This is happening all over our country nowadays and the number is increasing at an alarming rate. Even educated and well-informed city women are exposed to such events. Worst of all, the atrocities committed against her are not by the strangers but by her own members, whom she trusted the most.
KINDS OF CRUELTY
PHYSICAL CRUELTY:
If one of the spouses commits an act of violence of this kind that injures the body, limbs, health of the other spouse, then it is considered an act of physical cruelty considered. In the case of Swati v. Arvind Mudgal, 2015 the court ruled that "to depict physical cruelty, one or two acts are more than enough, even though the single act may be so serious and compelling that it could pass the cruelty test, which is equivalent to physical cruelty." In Britt, v. Britt, the husband, had run away from home and whenever he met his wife, he hit her. It was a case of cruelty. In the Chander Kanta v. Dial Chand case, the husband forcibly dragged his wife away. So, a case of physical cruelty. In Lallo v. Bachi, the court found that a single isolated act may be sufficient to order physical cruelty. there is no requirement that there must be a series of physical beatings. If physical cruelty is alleged, the petition must provide full details and specific allegations. When the wife does not mention when she was beaten and when she did not file a complaint of beating against her husband during her 3 years stay with her husband, it was found that she could not prove this case of cruelty by any part her husband. In Darshan Singh v. Amarjit Kaur, the wife's claim was that her husband beat her. During the trial, she did not present neighbors as witnesses, arguing that no one came when she was beaten. The court said it was hard to believe her noise didn't draw the attention of neighbors when she was being beaten and they didn't come to her aid. MENTAL CRUELTY: This type of cruelty is not mentioned anywhere. It is always within the discretion of the courts, depending on the facts and circumstances of each case. But in sentencing, the court
must consider several factors: social values, community, culture, status, thought process and environment of the party in the case. Some general principles about mental cruelty are discussed below
- Cruelty can be inferred from the full facts and marital relationships of the parties and the interaction in their daily lives disclosed by the evidence. The question of whether the defendant treated the petitioner cruelly is a unique question that should only be answered after all the facts have been considered.
- It is undesirable, if not impossible, to create categories of acts or conduct which may or may not have the kind or quality which renders them capable or incapable of amounting to psychological cruelty under any circumstances. Nor is it necessary to compare acts of rudeness and less rudeness. There may be cases where the actions complained of themselves are so insignificant that the court would not reasonably attach importance to them. On the other hand, actions that are not in themselves serious can be symptomatic of the state of mind of the contracting parties and the state of mind of the contracting parties. Since cruelty must be inferred from the totality of husband-wife relationships, it would not be an appropriate approach to "take each alleged incident individually and claim that it is trivial or not harmful or cruel and then say cumulatively that this does not represent something heavy, heavy or heavy. Marital relationships in this context should not be viewed as the sum of a series of events. Therefore, we can say that the actual intention to harm the other spouse is important but not an essential factor.
- In general, cruelty is by its very nature a cumulative charge. It is not necessary for the facts denounced to be of a particular character. The behavior may consist of a series of actions, each of which is serious, but it can be even more effective when it consists of a long and continuous series of minor actions, none of which, taken individually, could be considered serious. Any such act must be judged in relation to the surrounding circumstances and the physical or mental condition or vulnerability of the innocent spouse and the perpetrator's knowledge of the actual or likely effects of his conduct on the other. Also, the age, background, cultural level, and social status of the parties can determine which side of the line a particular act or behavior falls on. The reported acts and incidents, and the conduct of the parties, should be summarized into an overall picture that can only be used to determine whether the actions of one spouse are to be judged on the other in relation to all the surrounding circumstances are considered equivalent. on cruelty It is therefore impossible to create categories of acts or behavior that do not constitute cruelty.
- The existence of cruelty depends not only on the magnitude, but sometimes also on the actual or feared consequences of the crime.
- Mental ill-treatment may be coupled with physical ill-treatment to find a charge of cruel treatment. Since mental and physical ill treatment can, though they are not Ejusdem generis be taken together, it must follow those different forms of ill-treatment may be taken together to find a charge of treatment which amounts to cruelty.
Uma Wanti v Arjan Dev: it's been held that “even though the spouse isn't always an unsound character however her abnormal manner of conduct in the direction of him is enough to represent felony cruelty”. ● Attempt to commit suicide It has been taken into consideration that numerous tries to devote suicide or maybe danger of its miles enough to reason vast intellectual strain on the alternative celebration. In the case of Harbhajan Singh Monga v. Amarjeet Kaur, the Madhya Pradesh High Court held that “threats of committing suicide with the aid of using one partner constitutes cruelty to others accordingly it's miles legitimate felony floor to are trying to find divorce”. ● Making fake allegation Making fake allegations approximately the individual of the alternative celebration proves to be non-public grounds for searching for a divorce. In the case of Jay Dayal v. Shakuntala Devi, the Court has stated that “creating a fake allegation of bodily and intellectual torture in opposition to husband quantities to intellectual cruelty”. ● Refusal to have sexual intercourse Sexual sex performs a totally critical position in a glad and harmonious marital relationship. In the case of Anil Bharadwaj v. Nirmlesh Bharadwaj, the Court determined that if any celebration to the wedding having a wholesome bodily circumstance refuses to have sexual sex with none purpose and whilst the events are younger and newly married, it might quantity to cruelty and could entitle the alternative celebration to a decree of divorce. ● Defamation Regularly disrupting and insulting the partner in the front of society which reasons ache and intellectual pain to the alternative could quantity to intellectual cruelty. In the case of Vishwanath S/o Sitaram Agrawal v. Sau. Sarla Vishwanath Agrawal, 2012, the Court held that “the purpose become to demonize the popularity of the husband withinside the society with the aid of using naming him as an inebriated womanizer and guy of horrific habit. This constitutes intellectual cruelty, and this behavior of the spouse has frozen the emotion and snuffed out the brilliant candle of feeling of the husband accordingly it's miles clean that with this intellectual pain, ache, and struggling the husband could now no longer be capable of stay with the spouse, consequently entitled to decree of divorce”. The concept of legal cruelty changes with the development of social regimes, with the advancement of social concepts and living standards. Today, physical cruelty is not only a necessary basis for determining legal cruelty, but also other grounds such as persistent abuse,
termination of marital relations, husband indifference. and the husband asserts his wife is. not modesty, are all factors that lead to mental or legal cruelty. LEGAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING CRUELTY ● Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 Section 10 – Judicial Separation Judicial Separation Either party to a marriage, whether solemnized before or after the commencement of this Act, may present a petition praying for a decree for judicial separation on any of the grounds specified in sub-section(l) of section 13 and in the case of a wife also on any of the grounds specified in sub section (2) thereof, as grounds on which a petition for divorce might have been presented. Section 13 - Divorce "Cruelty" also has been specified as a ground for divorce in Section 13(l) Any marriage solemnized, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, may, on a petition presented by either the husband or the wife, be dissolved by a decree of divorce on the ground that the other party - has, after the solemnization of the marriage, treated the petitioner with cruelty. ● The Special Marriage Act, 1954 Section 23 -Judicial Separation A petition for judicial separation may be presented to the district court either by the husband or the wife: - (a) On any of the grounds specified in sub-section (1) and sub-section (1-A) of Section 27 on which a petition for divorce might have been presented. Section 27 Subject to the provisions of this Act and to the rules made thereunder, a petition for divorce may be presented to the district court either by the husband or the wife on the ground that the respondent has since the solemnization of the marriage treated the petitioner with cruelty.
