Judge Sunil Beniwal of the Saket District Court in Delhi found that the acts of the ex-wife caused injury to the man and hampered his professional growth.
A Delhi court has recently found a woman liable for defaming her ex-husband and has ordered her to pay ₹15 lakh in damages. Judge Sunil Beniwal of the Saket District Court determined that her actions had caused harm to the man and impeded his professional advancement.
“From the record of the case, it is evident that the defendant has indulged in acts amounting to defamation by way of Libel. The copy of email/ chats filed by the plaintiff have been duly proved, supported by way of an electronic evidence affidavit, and remain unrebutted. The defendant has not challenged and or taken any steps to challenge the authenticity of the said emails,” the Court said in its July 29 order.
The Court was examining a lawsuit in which the man sought damages from his ex-wife for defamation and for filing false legal cases against him. The couple, married in 2001, saw the husband allege that the wife left their home with their young daughter in 2009. He claimed that she subsequently began filing baseless lawsuits and making false accusations about him and his family to various courts and authorities. Furthermore, he asserted that she prevented him from seeing their daughter, denying him her love and affection.
It was also argued that the wife used abusive and defamatory language about him and his mother in emails to her friends. The husband noted that in 2021, a family court had dissolved their marriage on the grounds of cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. He claimed that, even after the divorce, his ex-wife continued to defame him by sending emails to his elderly and ill uncle, who was also his employer. Additionally, he alleged that the persistent harassment led him to undergo major surgery in March 2022, costing him ₹6 lakh. In response, the wife argued that the lawsuit was false, frivolous, and intended to harass her. She also claimed that the lawsuit was barred by the statute of limitations, as it was based on messages from 2010 and emails from 2020. The Court noted that the wife had adopted inconsistent positions based on her convenience.
“It is observed that at Question no. 5 of the cross examination the defendant has stated that she only has only used one email ID till date where as in the very next question the defendant has admitted that she had mentioned another email ID in her income affidavit in the month of November 2017 filed in the DV case as filed between the present parties which is duly mentioned above”, the Court noted in its Order.
The Court determined that the lawsuit was filed within the permissible timeframe. It held the wife responsible and ordered her to pay ₹15 lakh in damages, along with 9 percent interest from the date the suit was filed until the payment is completed.
Advocate Minakshi Agarwal represented the husband, while advocate Fauzi Sayeed represented the wife.
