Cuttack: Orissa High Court has ruled that it was the husband's burden to prove his case, when he seeks divorce, and not the wife.

The court gave the ruling while setting aside the dissolution of a marriage by a family court on grounds of the wife's mental cruelty.

The high court felt that the family court had made a wrong approach by mainly analysing the evidence of the wife "as if the burden of proving mental cruelty" was on her.

"The Judge, Family Court, Cuttack, ought to have analysed the evidence of respondent (husband) as it was he who had moved the court with a prayer for decree of divorce. So the burden was clearly on the respondent to prove his case," the division bench of Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Biswajit Mahanty.

The family court finalised the dissolution of Rudra Charan and Sujata Mohanty's marriage, solemnised in January 2001, by issuing a decree of divorce in August 2010. It had held that evidence provided on behalf of the husband clearly proved that he was subjected to cruelty by his wife.

Sujata appealed against the family court order in the high court that same year. Her plea languished till the high court allowed it on January 12.

The bench held that most allegations made by Rudra Charan had not been corroborated and proved, rather contradicted. It further held that the allegations of mental cruelty had not been proved as the husband had not been able to prove majority of the allegations with cogent evidence.

"There is nothing to show that the conduct of the appellant was of such intensity and gravity so as to bring it within the parameters on mental cruelty," the bench observed.

"We are of the considered opinion that the learned court below has gone wrong in allowing the prayer of the respondent (husband) for dissolution of marriage. Accordingly, we allow the present appeal and set aside the impugned judgment and order dated 6.8.2010 passed by the learned Judge, Family Court," the bench said in the order.