Delhi Court Rejects Woman's Rs 50 Lakh Damages Claim Against Husband's Partner

A court in New Delhi has dismissed a woman’s lawsuit seeking Rs 50 lakh in damages from her husband’s alleged extramarital partner, whom she accused of destroying her marriage and stealing her spouse's affection.

District Judge Atul Ahlawat ruled that the wife failed to establish that the partner had induced, encouraged, or intentionally caused the husband to withdraw from the matrimonial relationship.

In the order, the court observed that merely because two consenting adults entered into a consensual sexual relationship outside of marriage, which subsequently led to the birth of a child, it did not in itself satisfy the legal requirements to establish alienation of affection.

According to the case details, the couple was married in 2001. The husband developed an extramarital relationship following a trip to the United States in 2009. He later filed for divorce in 2012, a matter that remains pending before the court, and left the matrimonial home in January 2013.

The petitioner further alleged that her husband and his partner entered into a bigamous marriage in 2015 and had a daughter together in September 2016.

The woman had initially filed the claim seeking Rs 1 crore with interest before reducing the demand to Rs 50 lakh. The lawsuit was filed under the legal doctrine of Alienation of Affection, which allows an individual to seek monetary compensation from a third party alleged to have intentionally interfered in a marriage and caused the loss of spousal affection and companionship.