Husband’s GF Cannot Be Sued For Cruelty, SC Says

India Legal News: A wife cannot sue her husband’s girl friend on grounds of mental cruelty, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

The other woman, a girl friend or a concubine, cannot be slapped a case under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code by the estranged wife. The situation, at best, could be a ground for seeking divorce, the apex court said.

A bench comprising Justices Altamas Kabir and AK Patnaik upheld an appeal filed by Sunita Jha, who had been facing criminal charges under section 498A, in a case filed by Asha Rani accusing Sunita of living with her husband Mukund Chandra Pandit without marrying him.

The Supreme Court said that the criminal charge could be invoked only against Mukund Chandra Pandit or his relatives.