Delhi court rejects ₹50 lakh claim against husband’s alleged partner

District Judge Atul Ahlawat dismissed a woman’s claim for ₹50 lakh in damages from her husband’s alleged partner, finding that she had not proved the third party intentionally caused the breakdown of the marriage.

The couple married in 2001. The husband filed for divorce in 2012, and those proceedings remain pending. The wife said her husband began a relationship after a 2009 trip to the US and left the matrimonial home in January 2013. She alleged that he later married the third party and that they had a daughter.

The wife initially sought ₹1 crore plus interest under an alienation-of-affection claim, before reducing the demand to ₹50 lakh. The court said such a claim required proof that affection existed in the marriage, that it was destroyed, and that the third party’s wrongful conduct directly caused that result.

During cross-examination, the wife referred to physical, emotional and mental abuse in the marriage, and said her husband had denied her physical intimacy for much of it. The court found no direct evidence that the third party had persuaded him to leave, noting that he had made his own choice to pursue the relationship.

The divorce case filed by the husband in 2012 is still pending.