It has been held by this Court in C. Veerudu v. State of A.P. (1988) 2 Andh LT 171 : 1989 Cri LJ NOC 52 that even in respect of the offence under Section 498-A, IPC, the necessary mens rea is required, and it cannot be said by any stretch of imaginaiton that the ground mentioned in the Divorce petition that the wife was suffering from Cancer, if ultimately considered to be a cruelty for a moment, the necessary mens rea is lacking, which is necessary ingredient, so as to bring home the offence under Section 498-A, IPC. This approach of the learned Additional Sessions Judge is totally wrong and has been oblivious of the very provisions of Section 498-A, IPC, and the explanation appended to the said section. The word 'Cruelty' has been sought to be illustrated and thus may be extracted hereunder for brevity and better understanding of the matter and also for appreciation of the points germane for consideration :-
Section 498-A IPC
Explanation : For the purpose of this Section "Cruelty" means :-
(a) Any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman; or
(b) harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.
It is obvious from the perusal of the explanation given under Section 498-A, IPC that cruelty means a wilful conduct of such a nature and of such a magnitude so as to drive a woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life or limb or health of the woman. Seeking divorce on the ground that she was suffering from virulent disease like Cancer, it cannot be said by any stretch of imagination that it would lead to such a situation where P.W. 1 would prepare to commit suicide. The explanation further says that the harassment of woman shall be with a view to coerce her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security. This has to be considered with reference to the legal principles enunciated by this Court in the judgment referred to (1989 Cri LJ NOC 52) (supra) of this Court that the element of mens rea shall be there. After having considered the explanation appended to Section 498-A, IPC, it is manifest that the finding of the learned IV Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge that the grounds mentioned by the revision petitioner in seeking divorce which turned out to be baseless by themselves amounts to cruelty are not well founded and cannot be countenanced.
Andhra High Court
Ch. Narender Reddy vs State Of A.P. on 16 June, 2000
Equivalent citations: 2000 (2) ALD Cri 408, 2000 (2) ALD Cri 821
https://www.lawweb.in/2012/12/seeking-divorce-on-ground-that-wife-is.html
