Wife's impotency claim against husband during divorce not defamation: Bombay High Court
Family sought to quash earlier court order
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In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court has held that a wife's allegation of impotency against her husband, made during divorce proceedings , cannot be treated as defamation . The court observed that such a claim is legally relevant and made to protect the woman's interest in a marital dispute, a PTI report stated.Justice S M Modak passed the order on July 17, which was made public on Friday. He dismissed a defamation complaint filed by a man against his estranged wife and her family. The court said that under the Hindu Marriage Act, impotency is a valid ground for divorce, and allegations made in that context are part of the legal process.'This court feels that when litigation between spouses arises in a matrimonial relationship, then the wife is justified in making those allegations to support her interest,' the court said. It added that such allegations 'cannot be held as defamatory.'The man had filed a defamation complaint, arguing that his wife's claims had harmed his reputation. According to him, she made the allegation of impotency not only in her divorce and maintenance pleas but also in a First Information Report (FIR) filed against him and his parents. Since these documents were now part of the public record, he said they caused damage to his image.The woman, along with her father and brother, approached the Bombay High Court seeking to quash an earlier order by a sessions court. That order had asked a magistrate's court to begin an inquiry into the man's defamation complaint. In response, the woman told the high court that her husband's impotence was one of the reasons she wanted the marriage dissolved.Justice Modak ruled that the wife's statements, made during the course of legal proceedings, were 'justified' as she was trying to show that she had suffered cruelty during the marriage. The court said such allegations are part of the judicial process and are not defamatory in nature.(Inputs from PTI)
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