NEW DELHI: In a society where reputation plays a vital role in leading a dignified life, can a sensitive allegation made during a marital dispute amount to defamation? This question came into sharp focus when a man accused his estranged wife of tarnishing his image by calling him impotent in her divorce and maintenance petitions.The matter reached the Bombay high court, raising a critical legal question: where does one draw the line between protecting individual rights and harming another’s reputation?In its recent ruling, the high court made it clear that allegations of impotency made by a woman against her husband during matrimonial proceedings do not amount to defamation, if raised in the context of divorce or maintenance claims.This came after a single-judge bench of Justice SM Modak dismissed the man’s criminal defamation complaint against his wife, stating that such claims are relevant under the Hindu Marriage Act and cannot be seen as defamatory when used to support her case.The court observed that when a marital dispute reaches the court, both parties are entitled to present facts that support their case.“This court feels that when litigation between spouses arises in a matrimonial relationship, then the wife is justified in making those allegations to support her interest,” the judge noted in the order dated July 17, which became available on Friday. He further added that the same cannot be held as defamatory.The petitioner had filed a criminal complaint against his wife and her family, accusing them of defamation after she described him as impotent in her divorce and maintenance applications and in a police complaint. He argued that the documents were public and had damaged his reputation.However, the court held that such statements, made within legal proceedings to support claims of cruelty and justify divorce, cannot be treated as defamatory.The woman, along with her father and brother, had approached the High Court to challenge a sessions court order directing a magistrate to conduct an inquiry into the man’s complaint. The High Court quashed the lower court’s direction.Notably, this ruling stands in contrast to a 2018 judgment by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. In that case, the court had held that calling a person “impotent” amounts to defamation, especially if used outside the context of legal proceedings.Justice Sunil Shukre had then stated that such a term reflects poorly on a man’s masculinity. He added that it can lead others to mock or disrespect him, thereby constituting an offence under Sections 499 (damage to reputation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.
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