JUDGMENT

Dr. AR. Lakshmanan, J. - Leave granted.

2. The husband is the appellant before us. The respondent is his wife. They got married according to the Hindu rites and customs in the year 1972. After three years of marriage a daughter was born of the wedlock. Because of the misunderstanding between them the respondent started living separately from her husband from the year 1981 onwards and is working in the Social Forestry Department. The respondent also filed several criminal proceedings against her husband with which we are not concerned in this appeal.

3. In the year 1989 the appellant filed a petition for a decree of dissolution of marriage on the ground of mental cruelty and the respondent having deserted him without any reasonable cause. The District Judge, Gwalior, dismissed the petition filed by the husband for dissolution of the marriage. The Appellant filed a first appeal in the High Court under Sec. 28 of the Hindu Marriage Act. The High Court also dismissed the appeal of the appellant. The appellant has therefore questioned the correctness of the order passed by the High Court in the above appeal.

4. We heard Mr. A.K. Chitale, learned senior counsel and Mr. S.S. Dahiya,