Karnataka HC: 'It is cruelty to call husband black' and High Court gives divorce to the couple

The Karnataka High Court has said that adopting a man by his wife because of his dark skin is cruelty. Court considered this a strong reason for divorce and granted divorce to the couple. The High Court made the observation in a recent judgment while granting divorce to a 44-year-old man from his 41-year-old wife.
The High Court said that a closer examination of the evidence on record also leads to the conclusion that the wife used to insult the husband on the ground that he was black and that is why she has gone away from the husband without any reason.
Allowing the petition for dissolution of marriage under Section 13(i)(a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, the High Court observed, "To conceal this aspect, (she) has made false allegations of illicit relations against the husband. These facts Will definitely lead to cruelty."
The Bangalore-based couple got married in the year 2007 and have a daughter. In the year 2012, the husband approached a family court in Bangalore for divorce. On the couple's appeal, a division bench of Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anant Ramnath Hegde gave its verdict.
The High Court said, "It is the case of the husband that the wife used to humiliate him by saying that his complexion is dark. She has further stated that the husband used to bear the humiliation for the sake of the child." The wife had filed a case against her husband and in-laws under IPC section 498A (subjecting a married woman to cruelty). The woman also filed a case under the Domestic Violence Act and went to live with her parents along with the child.
However, the wife had denied the allegations leveled by the husband in the Family Court and instead alleged that it was the husband and his family members who were mistreating and subjecting her to cruelty. The wife had alleged that her in-laws demanded dowry from her and did not allow her to go out with the child. Along with this, the wife also alleged that her husband was having an illicit relationship with another woman and had a child with her.
However, in the year 2017, the family court rejected the husband's petition for divorce. After this, the husband approached the Karnataka High Court. The High Court, while giving the verdict, said that the allegations leveled against the husband that he had an illegal relationship with a woman are completely baseless and baseless as well as negligent.
The Court has further said in the judgment that "the wife did not make any effort to come back to the husband. The evidence on our record shows that the wife was not interested in marriage because of the black complexion of the husband." The High Court, setting aside the order of the Family Court, observed that the Family Court should have passed the order."