Removing Thali Amounts to Mental Cruelty of the Highest Order, Says Madras High Court; Upholds Divorce Granted to Man

The Madras High Court has upheld a lower court's decree dissolving a marriage of nearly five decades, ruling that the symbolic removal of the thali (mangalsutra) by a Hindu wife, combined with baseless allegations of infidelity and prolonged separation, constitutes mental cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act. Justice P. Vadamalai dismissed a second appeal filed by the wife, confirming the concurrent findings of both the trial court and the first appellate court that had originally granted the divorce to her husband, a retired Indian Army officer.

Allegations of Infidelity and Professional Impact

The legal dispute stemmed from a marriage solemnised on August 30, 1977. According to court records, the husband alleged that his wife had persistently accused him of maintaining extramarital relationships with multiple women. The conflict escalated when the wife sent formal written complaints detailing these allegations to his superior officers in the Indian Army, a move the husband argued caused him severe public humiliation and disrupted his professional standing. The wife contested these claims, asserting that her suspicions were genuine and directly related to her husband's conduct. She further alleged that past instances of domestic violence had resulted in criminal proceedings against him.

However, relying on the Supreme Court’s precedent in Joydeep Majumdar v. Bharti Jaiswal Majumdar, the High Court emphasised that levelling defamatory complaints before a spouse's employer or superior authorities significantly damages their reputation and career prospects, thereby establishing a valid baseline for mental cruelty.

Cultural Significance of the Thali

A pivotal component of the High Court's assessment centred on the wife's admission during cross-examination that she had intentionally removed her thali and ceased wearing traditional gold ornaments. The husband had further alleged that this act was tied to her conversion to Christianity. While the court noted that definitive documentary evidence regarding a formal religious conversion was limited, it ruled that the removal of the sacred chain could not be ignored. Quoting an earlier division bench judgment on the cultural and emotional weight of the practice in Hindu marriages, Justice Vadamalai observed:

"It is known fact that no Hindu married woman would remove the 'Thali' at any point of time during the lifetime of her husband. 'Thali' around the neck of a wife is a sacred thing which symbolises the continuance of married life and it is removed only after the death of the Husband. Therefore, the removal of 'Thali' by the petitioner/wife can be said to be an act, which reflected mental cruelty of the highest order as it could have caused agony and hurted the sentiments of the respondent," the court said. Boney Kapoor, Janhvi and Khushi Kapoor Win Legal Battle; Madras High Court Dismisses ‘Vexatious’ Suit Over Sridevi’s Chennai Property.

Three Decades of Separation

The defense argued that the husband had technically condoned his wife's previous behaviour by briefly resuming cohabitation after his retirement from military service. The court rejected this argument, observing that the couple's relationship remained defined by continuous bitter litigation and unresolved conflict Furthermore, the bench took into account that the couple had been living completely separate lives since 1996. While the High Court acknowledged that an "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" is not an independent, statutory ground for divorce available to high courts, it ruled that a prolonged separation lasting three decades without any active attempt at the restitution of conjugal rights can be heavily weighed when determining cumulative mental cruelty.

Concluding that forcing the parties to remain legally wedded under such circumstances would only prolong emotional suffering, the High Court found no reason to interfere with the lower courts' rulings and officially terminated the 49-year-old marital tie.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 02, 2026 06:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).