India: Patna High Court says calling partner ghost and vampire not ‘cruelty’
Patna High Court
A court in India's Patna city observed that the use of "filthy language" by a couple, who call each other names such as 'bhoot' (ghost) and 'pishach' (vampire) does not amount to 'cruelty'. Patna High Court's judge Justice Bibek Chaudhuri was hearing a petition filed by two residents of Bokaro from neighbouring Jharkhand state.
The petition was filed by a father-son duo,Sahdeo Gupta and Naresh Kumar Gupta.
The two had challenged an order passed by courts in Bihar's Nalanda district, on a complaint filed by Naresh Gupta's divorced wife in Nawada, her native place.
What was the case?
Naresh Gupta's divorced wife filed a complaint against her husband and father-in-law, 30 years ago in 1994, and accused them of physical and material torture while demanding a car in dowry.
The case was then transferred to Nalanda from Nawada upon a petition by the father-son duo. The two were slapped with a sentence amounting to the imprisonment for a year.
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The couple was later granted divorce by the Jharkhand High Court.
While opposing the petition filed before the Patna High Court, the divorced woman's advocate said that "a lady, in the 21st century" was called "bhoot" and "pishach" by her in-laws, which was "a form of immense cruelty".
The Patna High Court observed that it was "not in a position to accept such an argument".
"In matrimonial relations, especially in failed matrimonial relations", there have been instances of "both the husband and the wife" having "abused each other" with "filthy language".
"However, all such accusations do not come within the veil of cruelty," it said.
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The court also noted that she had been "harassed" and "brutally tortured" by "all the accused persons" but there were "no specific, distinct allegations against either petitioner".
The judgements passed by the lower courts were also quashed though there was "no order as to costs".
(With inputs from agencies)