Court says Family Court can rely on electronic material under Section 14 of the Family Courts Act; rejects wife’s bid to add later FIR as additional evidence.
The Chhattisgarh High Court has set aside a Family Court order and granted divorce to a woman after finding that unchallenged WhatsApp messages sent by her husband to her and her sisters contained filthy abuses and reflected grave mental cruelty.
A division bench of Justices Parth Prateem Sahu and Sushma Sawant allowed the appeal filed by Archana Singh, who had sought dissolution of marriage on the ground of cruelty. The court held that the husband’s conduct, including abusive messages, threats, and alleged harassment, made matrimonial life intolerable and satisfied the legal test for cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
The couple was married on 5 December 2021. According to the wife, the husband began abusing and assaulting her soon after marriage. She alleged that he threatened to kill her, demanded an air-conditioner as dowry, and even threatened to sell her jewellery to meet his demands. She further claimed that after she left the matrimonial home, the husband continued sending abusive WhatsApp messages to her and her sisters.
The husband did not appear before the Family Court and was proceeded ex parte. He also remained absent before the High Court. The wife examined herself and her mother and produced the marriage invitation card along with screenshots of WhatsApp chats. The Family Court had rejected her divorce petition, but the High Court found that the lower court had erred in ignoring the electronic evidence.
Relying on Supreme Court rulings including Samar Ghosh v. Jaya Ghosh and Vishwanath Agrawal v. Sarla Vishwanath Agrawal, the High Court reiterated that cruelty has no fixed formula and must be judged from the cumulative effect of matrimonial conduct, the parties’ background, and the impact on the aggrieved spouse. The bench observed that sustained abusive and humiliating conduct can amount to mental cruelty.
The court also held that the WhatsApp messages could not be brushed aside merely because the chats were incomplete or because technical proof under the Evidence Act had not been strictly complied with. Referring to Section 14 of the Family Courts Act, 1984, the bench said Family Courts have wider discretion to receive reports, documents, statements, and other material that may assist in effective adjudication, even if such material might not strictly satisfy ordinary evidentiary rules.
On that basis, the court concluded that the unchallenged chats clearly disclosed the husband’s mindset and his disrespectful conduct even toward the wife’s sisters, causing deep mental anguish. It therefore held that the wife had successfully proved mental cruelty.
The High Court also rejected the wife’s application under Order XLI Rule 27 CPC seeking to place on record a later FIR lodged during the pendency of the appeal. The court said the requirements for additional evidence were not met, as the document had not been refused by the trial court, no due diligence was shown, and the FIR alone was not necessary for deciding the appeal.
Finally, the bench dissolved the marriage and granted a decree of divorce in favour of the wife. It also reserved liberty for her to seek permanent alimony separately under Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, since no such claim had been made in the divorce proceedings.
Bottom Line :-
Hindu Marriage Act - Divorce on ground of cruelty - Ex parte husband - Unchallenged WhatsApp messages containing filthy abuses towards wife and her sisters held sufficient to establish mental cruelty - Family Court can receive such electronic material under Section 14 of Family Courts Act even if strict rules of admissibility under Evidence Act are not complied with - Rejection of application under Order XLI Rule 27 CPC for taking subsequent FIR on record upheld.
Statutory provision(s): Section 13(1)(i-a), Section 14, Section 25, Order XLI Rule 27 CPC, Section 19(1) Family Courts Act, 1984
Archana Singh v. Anand Kumar Gupta, (Chhattisgarh)(DB) : Law Finder Doc id # 2985013
