‘Patriarchal, Condescending’: Calcutta High Court Criticises Trial Judge’s Remarks In Divorce Case

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Last Updated:May 28, 2025, 14:09 IST

The tribunal held that “the mindset appeared to outpouring from a patriarchal approach, attributing a condescending relation to the husband...and besides to condone cruel acts of the wife”

It termed the proceedings judge’s remarks “wishful and delirious fabrication to the facts of the case” and stressed that successful his plaint, the hubby had categorically alleged respective instances of cruelty by the wife.

The Calcutta High Court (HC) precocious acceptable speech a 2018 judgement of a proceedings tribunal that had dismissed a husband’s plea for divorce, citing not lone a implicit deficiency of ineligible reasoning but besides an excessive reliance connected “literary jargon" and “patriarchal commentary".

A part seat of Justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Uday Kumar allowed the entreaty filed by the husband, granting him divorcement connected the crushed of cruelty. The precocious tribunal recovered the proceedings court’s determination to beryllium “perverse".

The tribunal noted that immoderate of the words utilized by the proceedings justice were wholly de hors the pleadings of some the parties and were the aforesaid arsenic had been utilized by the aforesaid justice successful different matrimonial judgments.

The tribunal held that “the mindset of the proceedings justice appeared to outpouring up from a patriarchal and condescending approach, thereby attributing a condescending relation to the husband, to counsel his woman decently and besides to condone cruel acts of the woman by trying to ‘bridge the gap’ betwixt the parties".

The part seat emphasised that the settled instrumentality successful matrimonial disputes is that the tribunal has to look astatine the behaviour of the parties from their position and to travel to a uncovering arsenic to whether determination is immoderate cruelty, either intelligence oregon physical, perpetrated by either of the spouses against the different truthful arsenic to marque it intolerable for mean conjugal beingness to beryllium led unneurotic by them.

The tribunal highlighted that the proceedings justice had written that the hubby was blameworthy of his “lustful attitude", though specified “lustful attitude" was not reflected adjacent from the pleadings of the wife.

The tribunal further pointed retired that the proceedings justice had adjacent formulated definite “auspicious principles" which helium discovered could “glorify the conception of a palmy matrimony successful its optimum success".

“There are respective different literate jargon utilized inappropriately and simply to flash the vocabulary of the justice without fitting successful the flowery presumption successful their due place," the seat said.

It termed the proceedings judge’s remarks “wishful and delirious fabrication to the facts of the case" and stressed that successful his plaint, the hubby had categorically alleged respective instances of cruelty by the wife.

The tribunal noted that against these allegations, the woman had simply made bald denials successful her written connection which were not coupled with immoderate affirmative assertion oregon mentation and were “evasive successful nature".

The tribunal noted that the wife’s lone affirmative assertion was being made to bash home enactment during pregnancy, prompting her parents to instrumentality her home, but her written connection offered nary mentation for not returning to the matrimonial location oregon resuming conjugal life.

The tribunal further pointed retired that earlier the proceedings court, the woman did not pb immoderate autarkic grounds successful enactment of her defence case. Also, she did not cross-examine the husband. Moreover, she did not enactment successful conciliation proceedings arsenic good arsenic successful the suit aft filing her written connection earlier the proceedings court. She besides abstained from mediation ordered by the precocious court.

“It intelligibly shows that the matrimony betwixt the parties has breached down irretrievably," the precocious tribunal and accordingly granted the divorcement decree to the hubby connected the crushed of cruelty.

Before parting with the judgment, the part seat stressed that it stopped abbreviated of making immoderate superior adverse remark against the proceedings justice simply due to the fact that specified a remark could person an adverse effect connected the work vocation of the judge.

“However, we expect that the learned Judge acrophobic shall beryllium alert successful aboriginal astir copy-pasting his erstwhile judgments and successful going connected his ain tangential curve of wishful imaginativeness alternatively of adverting to the facts and materials connected grounds successful the peculiar lawsuit earlier him," the seat noted.

It besides warned that if immoderate aboriginal lawsuit of specified an enactment connected the portion of the learned proceedings justice is noticed, the aforesaid whitethorn beryllium directed to beryllium entered into his work book.

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