Surat Family Court Grants Divorce Over Concealed Medical Condition and Threats
A family court in Surat has granted a divorce to a 23-year-old sari trader, delivering a significant ruling that the man had been subjected to cruelty by his wife. The court found that the woman had deliberately hidden the fact that she had no vision in one eye and subsequently threatened her husband when he discovered the truth after their marriage.
Medical Discovery After Wedding Fall
The case unfolded after the couple, who were engaged in 2017 and married in February 2022 at a village in Amreli, moved to Surat following their wedding. According to court documents, the woman's family had initially informed the man and his family during the engagement that she wore spectacles with a prescription of 1.5 diopters in both eyes.
The truth emerged just days after the wedding when the woman fell, prompting her husband to take her to an optician. The optician immediately recognized a serious eye condition and referred them to an ophthalmologist. At Katargam Eye Hospital, doctors delivered the shocking diagnosis: the wife's left eye required refractive correction of 16 diopters, with nerves that had completely shrivelled since childhood, leaving no hope of vision restoration.
Family Admission of Deliberate Concealment
When confronted with the medical evidence, the woman's family initially refused to acknowledge the problem. They arranged for another examination at an Ahmedabad eye hospital in April 2022, where doctors confirmed the diagnosis with an even stronger prescription of 17 diopters in the left eye and reiterated the impossibility of vision recovery.
Only then did the wife's family admit the truth – they had deliberately concealed her complete blindness in one eye because she had been unable to secure marriage proposals due to this condition. This admission formed a crucial part of the husband's legal argument.
Threats and Legal Proceedings
After discovering the deception, the petitioner sought to end the marriage. However, his wife responded with repeated threats, refusing to consent to a divorce. She allegedly threatened to implicate him in false legal cases and even threatened suicide, creating what the court described as a hostile environment.
The case was filed on July 24, 2023, by advocates Vandana Gohil and Jignesh Hariyani on behalf of the husband. The family court carefully examined the evidence and legal precedents before delivering its judgment.
Court's Ruling on Cruelty Grounds
The court accepted the husband's petition on grounds of cruelty, granting the divorce decree under Section 13(1)(i-a) of The Hindu Marriage Act. In its ruling, the court held that the man had been subjected to immense harassment through his wife's hostile conduct, which included both the initial concealment of her medical condition and the subsequent threats.
The judgment referenced various Supreme Court and High Court decisions before concluding that the wife's actions constituted legal cruelty. This case highlights how concealment of significant medical information before marriage, followed by threatening behavior, can meet the legal threshold for cruelty in divorce proceedings under Indian family law.
