Patna, March 30: In a recent ruling, the Patna High Court ruled that referring to a wife as a "ghost" or "pishach" (a vampire) does not constitute cruelty when it comes to a couple's failing marriage. While allowing the criminal revision case of Sahdeo Gupta and his son Naresh Kumar Gupta, both of whom reside in Bokaro, Jharkhand, a single bench of justice Bibek Chaudhury overturned the ruling of a magistrate court in Nalanda, which found the petitioners guilty of committing matrimonial cruelty under Section 498-A of the IPC and of demanding dowry, which is illegal.

The judgement of the additional sessions judge of Nalanda, which had maintained the magisterial court's ruling as an appeal court, was also overturned by the high court. 'Lodging False Case an Element of Cruelty by Wife': Calcutta High Court Allows Husband's Plea for Dissolution of Marriage.

On March 1, 1993, Naresh and Jyoti were wed in accordance with Hindu traditions. As a result of not receiving a car as a dowry, Jyoti's father Kanhaiya Lal filed a complaint the next year, accusing Naresh and his father of torturing his daughter physically and psychologically. The petitioner's allegations of torturing his wife were determined to be unsupported by any medical records or other forms of proof, according to the High Court. Husband Abusing Wife in Filthy Language in Front of Her Students Amounts to Mental Cruelty Under Hindu Marriage Act, Says Chhattisgarh High Court.

In his ruling on March 22, Justice Chaudhury also dismissed the complaint's attorney's argument that calling a woman in the twenty-first century "bhoot" and "pishach" is tantamount to mental torment. The high court noted that there are instances where both the husband and wife mistreat each other by using derogatory words in situations of failing marriage, as was clear from the case files. Nevertheless, the court noted that not all of these claims fall within the category of cruelty.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 30, 2024 11:39 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).