V.R.Krishna lyer, J.

(1) UPON hearing counsel, the court passed the following order: la. This matrimonial litigation, where a husband (the petitioner) unsucess- fully tried to get a decree for divorce of his wife (the respondent) under S. 13(l)(b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, has landed in this court as & petition for special leave to appeal. Customary accusations on both sides were made in the pleadings and evidence, but the High court (both the Single Judge and the division bench) did not grant dissolution of marriage. When we heard counsel on both sides on a preliminary basis we impressed upon them the benign perspective which the court must bring to bear upon a matrimonial cause. It is fundamental that reconciliation of a ruptured marriage is the first essay of the judge, aided by counsel in this noble adventure. The sanctity of marriage is, in essence, the foundation of civilisation and, therefore, court and counsel owe a duty to society to strain to the utmost to repair the snapped relations between the parties. This task becomes more insistent when an innocent off-spring of the wedding struggles in between the disputed parents. In the present case, there