The Madhya Pradesh High Court has emphasized that a mother influencing a child against their father constitutes a grave issue and constitutes cruelty towards the father.

In a ruling on a divorce case, a division bench comprising Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vinay Saraf noted that a wife's filing of multiple criminal cases against her husband and his family members, along with obstructing his access to their minor daughter, warranted serious consideration.

While refraining from commenting on the pending criminal complaints filed by the wife, the bench underscored that the wife had gone to great lengths in making allegations against her husband and his family members, surpassing all boundaries. Based on the records presented, the Court determined that upon the birth of their daughter in 2014, the husband was denied access to meet her, prompting him to initiate legal proceedings by filing a civil suit seeking custody of the minor child.

The Court observed that despite the Family Court's directive for the wife to permit her husband to meet their child, she refused to adhere to it. In light of this situation, the Court referenced recent remarks made by the Delhi High Court and Kerala High Court regarding parental alienation, highlighting that efforts to manipulate a child against a parent constitute mental cruelty.

In the current case, the husband initiated a custody petition in the family court at Jabalpur, seeking custody of his minor child due to alleged obstruction by the wife in his access to their daughter. On May 18, 2017, the court ruled in favor of the husband, granting his petition for custody.

Moreover, during the divorce proceedings, the court issued several orders directing the wife to arrange for meetings between the father and their daughter. However, in 2020, the family court observed the wife's reluctance to facilitate such meetings, further highlighting the challenges faced in ensuring the father's access to his daughter. Initially, the appellant-husband lodged a divorce petition citing mental cruelty and desertion in the district court. Later, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the court of the Principal Judge, Family Court, Jabalpur. However, the petition was ultimately dismissed on October 13, 2020.
As a result, the current appeal was brought before the High Court.

The High Court acknowledged that the wife's behavior had inflicted mental cruelty upon her husband. Notably, she had departed from the matrimonial home mere months after their marriage.

The Court observed that the husband and his family members anticipated the wife's return, but she never did, leading to a lack of cohabitation since her departure.

Additionally, the Court noted that all attempts at mediation between the parties had failed, and there were multiple cases filed by both parties against each other.
Taking these factors into consideration, the Court upheld the appeal and approved the divorce for the husband. However, it refrained from making any comments on the merits of the cases filed by both the husband and wife against each other, as these cases are still pending.

Advocate Sankalp Kochar appeared for the appellant.

Advocate Rajesh Maindireta appeared for the respondent.