Sadashiv Mallikarjun Kheradkar vs Smt. Nandini Sadashiv Kheradkar And ... on 24 July, 1995
I may quote two recent cases where wife was charged for the murder of her husband which are Shivappa v. State of Karnataka and T. Anjanamma v. State of Andhra Pradesh. We may also take judicial notice that many cases are coming to Court for divorce where husband alleges adultery on the part of the wife and the wife alleging adultery on the part of the husband. In the very nature of things adultery cannot be proved by direct evidence. It is a thing which always takes place secretly and clandestinely. In such circumstances, if there is some scientific evidence available, it will go a along way in assisting the Court to come to a conclusion that the adultery is proved or not. But if we go by the rigour or the presumption under S. 112 of the Evidence Act, no husband can be permitted to prove that the child born to a wife is not his, if the husband and wife are living together even if wife is proved to be living in adultery. It is also true that the Court cannot legislate on this matter and the Courts are helpless so long as S. 112 of the Evidence Act is on the Statute Book and no provision is made for testing of blood of the concerned person. As seen from the many criminal cases which are referred to above, where husband is charged in many cases for murdering his wife on the ground of her infidelity and there are few cases where even the wife is charged for murdering her husband on the ground that he has come to know of her illicit affairs, there must be some provision in law to enable the Court to show that notwithstanding that the husband and wife are living together, the wife has given birth to a child born through another person. I, therefore, feel that in view of the present trend in social life the concerned law on the point requires reconsideration.