Bengaluru, March 17: In a significant ruling, the Karnataka High Court rejected a 32-year-old man’s petition to declare his estranged wife as ‘mentally unsound’. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the man, payable to his wife.

TOI reported that the couple, who reside in the city, got married in November 2020. However, due to differences, the 26-year-old woman moved permanently to her parents’ home three months later. In June 2022, she filed a complaint against her husband under the Dowry Prohibition Act at the KP Agrahara police station. MP Man With Two Wives Ordered To Spend Three Days of Week With Each, Given Choice To Spend Sunday As Per His Desire, Bizarre Court Ruling Goes Viral!

The husband subsequently sought the annulment of their marriage in the family court, citing cruelty. In March 2023, he filed an application to refer his wife to psychiatrists at Nimhans. He claimed to have evidence that his wife was not of sound mind, citing an outpatient examination at Victoria Hospital that assessed her mental age as “11 years and 8 months” and her intelligence as “borderline”. This was his primary reason for seeking the annulment of the marriage. Gujarat: Man Sues Wife For Visiting Him Only Two Days A Week, Claims His Conjugal Rights As Husband Being Violated.

However, the woman submitted documents proving that she was a singer and teacher and had passed several technical exams, indicating her mental soundness. The family court ruled in her favor, a decision which the husband challenged in the high court.

Justice M Nagaprasanna stated that while the family court could instruct a person to undergo a medical test, such tests could not be ordered merely on the basis of applications. The judge observed, “It is rather unfortunate that the husband has sought to project the wife as having an unsound mind and her intelligence being at 11 years and 8 months… Such submissions are noted only to be rejected, as the husband has not preferred a petition invoking mental unsoundness of the wife, but it is on cruelty.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2024 08:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).