A sound mind indisputably is a key to a happy married life. A party to the marriage must have normal and sound mind so as to live a happy marital life. The burden of proof of the existence of requisite degree of mental disorder is on the spouse making the claim. The petitioner must establish that unsoundness of mind of the respondent is incurable or his/her mental disorder is of such a kind and to such an extent that he/she cannot reasonably be expected to live with his/ her spouse. A few strong instances indicating a short temper and somewhat erratic behavior on the part of the spouse may not amount to his/ her suffering continuously or intermittently from mental disorder.
Clause (ii)(b) of Section 5 provides for one of the conditions for a valid Hindu marriage that neither party must be suffering from unsoundness of mind, mental disorder or insanity. In terms of Section 12(1)(b) of the Hindu marriage act a marriage may be held to be voidable if the other party was suffering from mental disorder or insanity. Section 13(I)(iii) of the Act provides that a party to the marriage may present a petition for dissolution of marriage by a decree of divorce inter alia on the ground that the other party has been incurably of unsound mind and has been suffering continuously or intermittently from mental disorder of such a kind that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent.
The Hindu Marriage Act or any other law governing the field do not contain any express provision empowering the Court to issue a direction upon a party to a matrimonial proceedings to compel him/her to submit himself to a medical examination. However, this does not preclude a court from passing such an order. The object of the court always is to find out the truth. When scientific advances give fresh means of ascertaining it, there should not be any hesitations to use those means whenever the occasion requires. The court is always empowered to satisfy itself as to whether a party before it suffers from mental illness or not either for the purpose of taking evidence on the ground for which the matrimonial proceeding was started. It is well settled that the primary duty of the court is to see that the truth comes out. Therefore, although the medical examination for a party is not provided in the Act, even then, the court has complete inherent power in an appropriate case under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure to pass all orders for doing complete justice to the parties to the suit. It must have sufficient materials before it to enable it to exercise its discretion. Exercise of such discretion would be subjected to the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court in terms of Section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure and/ or Article 227 of the Constitution of India. Abuse of the discretionary power at the hands of a Court is not expected. The Court must arrive at a finding that the applicant has established a strong prima facie case before passing such an order.
A matrimonial court has the power to order a person to undergo medical test. However, the Court should exercise such a power if the applicant has a strong prima facie case and there is sufficient material before the Court. If despite the order of the court, the respondent refuses to submit himself/herself to medical examination, the court will be entitled to draw an adverse inference against him/her.
In certain cases medical examination by the experts in the field may not only found to be leading to truth of the matter but may also lead to removal of misunderstanding between the parties. Having regard to development in medicinal technology, it is possible to find out that what was presumed to be a mental disorder of a spouse is not really so.