New Delhi. The Supreme Court has stayed the Delhi High Court’s decision to grant divorce to famous chef Kunal Kapoor to his estranged wife on the ground of cruelty. Issuing notice to Kapoor on a petition filed by his wife, Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice SVN Bhatti referred the matter to the Supreme Court’s mediation center to explore the scope of settlement. The High Court, while allowing Kapoor to divorce, had said that the woman’s behavior towards him was devoid of dignity and sympathy.
The high court had allowed Kapoor’s appeal challenging the family court order refusing divorce and said it was a well-settled position of law that making reckless, defamatory and baseless allegations against one’s spouse in public amounted to cruelty.
The High Court had said, “In the light of the above facts of the present case, we find that the conduct of the respondent (wife) towards the appellant (husband) has been such that it is not dignified and sympathetic towards him.” He said, “If one spouse has such a disposition towards the other, then it disrespects the basic spirit of marriage and there is no possible reason why they should be forced to suffer long-term torture while living together.” Kunal was married in April 2008 and his wife gave birth to a son in 2012.
Kapoor, who was a judge on the television show ‘Master Chef’, alleged in his petition that his wife never respected his parents and even insulted them. On the other hand, the woman claimed that he made false allegations to mislead the court and said that she always talked to her husband like a life partner and was loyal to him. She alleged that Kunal kept her in the dark and fabricated fake stories to get a divorce.