mehnat What is the most common number of cases filed by wives against husbands?
Top of PageHas your wife filed any case against you? Has she filed more than one case?
If you are facing any litigation from your wife then it is highly likely that it consists of more than one case. Simultaneously it is highly likely that she has filed a domestic violence complaint against you.
What is the basis for this writer’s making of these claims? Well, let us for the moment leave the answers to the question why it is likely that your wife has filed more than one case against you, and to the question why it is likely that she has filed a DV case against you for later. Let us first ask– Is there any commonly seen number of cases filed by wives against husbands?
The answer is that in India the most common number of cases filed by wives against their husbands is 2. So common is this number that it is not only the most common number of cases filed by wives, it is also (almost) the nationwide average number of cases filed by wive against their husbands.
Why do wives file two cases against husbands so commonly?
Top of PageNow, why has your wife filed two cases against you?
Well, it may be speculated that the reason behind your wife’s filing of 2 cases against you is that she is following a (hitherto unnoticed!) national trend, which consists of wives filing 2 cases against their husbands.
Another possibility is that you have filed a case against her (being a divorce case) and she has decided to respond in the ratio of 2:1. It is very common for people to think (and even to say) that if somebody slaps you once you should slap them twice. Being a human being, your wife is prone to hold beliefs which are commonly held by people.
Further, note that 1 of yours and 2 of hers makes for a total of 3 contests between the two of you, which is a sufficiently high number of cases to keep her occupied and / or to keep you occupied, whichever (of the three possible permutations of these two items) was her objective.
Talking about 3, it is a nice and round number, and in fact is the first nice and round number amongst all (natural) numbers. It is also an important number in the human psyche, because people are programmed to think of the phrase "One Two Three" as a signal to start running or to start doing something. It is therefore not at all surprising that they associate it with progress. "Third time lucky" is a commonly held belief in not only India but the world. This makes people associate the number 3 with good luck. Culturally also, various threes like the Trimurti and 3 Lokas are important in Hinduism. So it is entirely possible that Indian wives are sub-consciously programmed to think of 3 cases as being an auspicious number in their litigations.
Data which supports the statistical hypothesis of wives most commonly filing two cases
Top of PageIs there any empirical data to support the conclusion / notion that wives in India commonly file 2 cases against their husbands?
There is, after a fashion. Nobody so far has bothered to calculate the average number (of cases filed by litigating wives against their husbands in India) as far as this writer is aware, but the factuality of the said conclusion is supported by plain readings of judicial jottings concerning factual matrices of various individual cases, some of which are outlined below.
It was seen in Sou. Sandhya Manoj Wankhade vs Manoj Bhimrao Wankhade and Others [1][2] (2010-2011) that the wife had filed 2 cases –a DV case under PWDVA 2005 and a dowry harassment case under IPC Section 498a.
In Juveria Abdul Majid Patni vs Atif Iqbal Mansoori [3][4] (2013-2014) also, the wife had filed 2 cases, the first being under IPC Sections 406 (Punishment for Criminal Breach of Trust) and 498a against her husband, her mother-in-law and her sister-in-law, and the second a DV complaint.
The wife in Shaurabh Kumar Tripathi vs Vidhi Rawal [5][6] (2024-2025) too had filed 2 cases against her husband, whose name is Prateek Tripathi. He is the brother of the appellant Shaurabh Kumar Tripathi. The cases were a DV complaint and a criminal case under IPC Sections 498a, 504, 506 and 34 (Intentional insult, punishment for criminal intimidation, common intention).
Nayana in Nayana vs Chintankumar Maisuria [7][8] (2024-2025) had filed a divorce petition and a DV application under Section 12 PWDVA against her husband. The husband had retaliated with a petition for restitution of conjugal rights.
There was a slight twist in one litigation. The number of cases filed by the wife was 2, but she had filed only 1 out of the 2 against her husband. It was recorded in Rinku Baheti vs Sandesh Sharda [9][10] (2023-2024) that the wife had filed 2 criminal cases, one against her husband and father-in-law under Sections 354, 376, 377, 420, 498A, 503, 506 and 509 of the IPC, and Sections 66 and 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (Molestation, punishment for rape, cheating and dishonesty, criminal intimidation, unnatural sexual intercourse, outraging of modesty, computer related offences, publication or transmission of obscene material); and one more under IPC Sections 360, 427, 452, 454 and 457 (Kidnapping a person from India, mischief, house trespass after preparation to hurt, lurking house trespass, lurking house trespass by night) against an employee of her husband’s company!
Ardija Singh in Sanjay Kumar Singh vs Ardija Singh [11][12] (2024-2025) had filed a divorce petition and a DV application against her husband.
Rohini Goel in Manish Goel vs Rohini Goel [13][14] (2010) had filed an FIR U/s 498A, 406 and 34 IPC and a DV complaint against the husband. During an attempt (together with her husband) to obtain divorce by mutual consent without waiting for a period of one year of separation –mandated as a minimum by the Hindu Marriage Act– before the Supreme Court, she claimed that she had withdrawn both her cases.
Statistical patterns in the above data
Top of PageSo we have seen a few examples of situations in which a wife had filed more than one case against her husband, and we can see 2 obvious commonalities in these cases, the first of which is that wives tend to file 2 cases against their husbands.
The second visible pattern in these cases is that a DV case is a very common element of wives’ legal attacks against husbands.
As a converse to this second visible pattern, it may be conjectured that DV cases are never standalone cases, and are always a small or large fraction of a vexatious aggregate. Hold on to that thought as we move further.
References:
Top of Page1)Sou. Sandhya Manoj Wankhade vs Manoj Bhimrao Wankhade and Others, AIR 2011 SC (CRI) 567, (2011) 2 SCALE 94, 2011 (2) SCC (CRI) 21 (Supreme Court of India, 31 January 2011), Indiankanoon.org; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
2)Sou. Sandhya Manoj Wankhade vs Manoj Bhimrao Wankhade and Others, AIR 2011 SC (CRI) 567, (2011) 2 SCALE 94, 2011 (2) SCC (CRI) 21 (Supreme Court of India, 31 January 2011), sci.gov.in; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
3) Juveria Abdul Majid Patni vs Atif Iqbal Mansoori, (2014) 10 SCALE 738, (2014) 10 SCC 736, II (2015) CCR 559(SC) (Supreme Court of India, 18 September 2014), Indiankanoon.org; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
4) Juveria Abdul Majid Patni vs Atif Iqbal Mansoori, (2014) 10 SCALE 738, (2014) 10 SCC 736, II (2015) CCR 559(SC) (Supreme Court of India, 18 September 2014), shadesofknife.in; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
5)Shaurabh Kumar Tripathi vs Vidhi Rawal, 2025 INSC 734 (Supreme Court of India, 19 May 2025), Indiankanoon.org; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
6)Shaurabh Kumar Tripathi vs Vidhi Rawal, 2025 INSC 734 (Supreme Court of India, 19 May 2025), sci.gov.in; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
7)Nayana vs Chintankumar Maisuria, Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 1908 / 2024 (Supreme Court of India, 31 July 2025), Indiankanoon.org; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
8)Nayana vs Chintankumar Maisuria, Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 1908 / 2024 (Supreme Court of India, 31 July 2025), sci.gov.in; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
9)Rinku Baheti vs Sandesh Sharda, 2024 INSC 1014 (Supreme Court of India, 19 December 2024), Indiankanoon.org; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
10)Rinku Baheti vs Sandesh Sharda, 2024 INSC 1014 (Supreme Court of India, 19 December 2024), sci.gov.in; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
11)Sanjay Kumar Singh vs Ardija Singh, Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 1304 / 2024 (Supreme Court of India, 31 July 2025), Indiankanoon.org; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
12)Sanjay Kumar Singh vs Ardija Singh, Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 1304 / 2024 (Supreme Court of India, 31 July 2025), sci.gov.in; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
13)Manish Goel vs Rohini Goel, AIR 2010 Supreme Court 1099, (2010) 2 SCALE 332, 2010 (4) SCC 393 (Supreme Court of India, 05 February 2010), Indiankanoon.org; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025
14)Manish Goel vs Rohini Goel, AIR 2010 Supreme Court 1099, (2010) 2 SCALE 332, 2010 (4) SCC 393 (Supreme Court of India, 05 February 2010), sci.gov.in; Delhi; Undated; Retrieved on 30th August 2025