A Delhi court has recently found a woman liable for defaming her ex-husband and ordered her to pay ₹15 lakh in damages.
Judge Sunil Beniwal of the Saket District Court in Delhi determined that the woman’s actions caused harm to her ex-husband and impeded his professional growth.
“The case record clearly shows that the defendant engaged in acts of defamation through libel. The emails and chats submitted by the plaintiff were supported by electronic evidence and have not been contested. The defendant has not challenged the authenticity of these emails,” the Court stated in its July 29 order.
The Court was addressing a lawsuit filed by the ex-husband, who sought damages from his ex-wife for defaming him and pursuing malicious and false litigation against him.
The couple had married in 2001. The husband alleged that the wife left their home in 2009 with their minor daughter and then initiated false and frivolous legal actions, making defamatory accusations against him and his family in various courts and before different authorities.
He also claimed that she prevented him from seeing their daughter, depriving him of her love and affection.
Additionally, the husband argued that the wife used abusive and defamatory language against him and his mother while chatting with her friends via email.
The marriage was dissolved in 2021 by a family court on the grounds of cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. However, the ex-husband alleged that his ex-wife continued to defame him by sending emails to his elderly and ill maternal uncle, who was also his employer.
He further argued that the ongoing harassment led to a major surgery in March 2022, which cost him ₹6 lakh.
The wife, in her defense, argued that the lawsuit was false, frivolous, and an attempt to harass her. She also claimed that the suit was barred by the statute of limitations since it was based on chats from 2010 and emails sent in 2020.
The Court observed that the wife had taken contradictory positions to suit her convenience.
“It is noted that during cross-examination, the defendant initially stated she had only used one email ID, but in the very next question, she admitted to using another email ID, which she had mentioned in her income affidavit filed in a domestic violence case in November 2017,” the Court observed.
The Court also found that the lawsuit was filed within the appropriate time frame.
As a result, the Court held the woman liable and ordered her to pay ₹15 lakh in damages, along with 9 percent interest from the date of the lawsuit’s filing until the payment is made.
Advocate Minakshi Agarwal represented the husband, while Advocate Fauzi Sayeed appeared for the wife.
