Dismissing a petition that sought a medical examination of his estranged wife alleged to be suffering from mental illness, the Bombay High Court fined a Mumbaikar of ₹20,000 which has to be paid to his wife within four weeks.
According to Justice Girish Kulkarni, it was an attempt to harass his wife and the plea was an abuse of the process of law.
The family court judge correctly observed how the man merely stated about physiological, biological and mental health check-up without actually describing what he meant. He was vague and not very well informed and articulated concerning the nature of the tests. Hence, he came across as a man shrewdly trying to get rid of his wife and causing harassment to her while taking up this petition as an afterthought two years after he filed a divorce plea against her.
The man had filed a divorce petition against his wife before the family court in 2015. In 2017, he sought a "complete physiological, biological and mental medical check-up of his wife, who he claimed was suffering from acute mental sickness". The family court rejected his application and he filed an appeal in the HC. The only evidence he could produce was a note by an orthopedic surgeon recommending that his wife undergo sonography.