Lucknow, March 16 -- Upholding the decree of divorce in a matrimonial case, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has observed that the filing of false criminal cases by a woman against her husband amounted to mental cruelty.

The judgement was passed by a division bench comprising justices Vivek Chaudhary and Om Prakash Shukla on March 7 on an appeal filed by a woman under Section 28 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA), challenging a divorce decree passed by a family court.

The court observed, ". the appellant had filed a false criminal case against the respondent-husband, her mother-in-law and his family members. The initiation of false and frivolous criminal proceedings against a spouse and his or her family not only subject...