JUDGMENT

Jagdish Singh Khehar, J.

1. The marriage between the appellant-husband, Darshan Gupta and the respondent-wife, Radhika Gupta, was solemnized on 9.5.1997 at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Hyderabad, as per Hindu rights and customs. This was not the first matrimonial alliance between the two families. The husband’s elder brother was already married to the wife’s sister. Both parties admittedly belong to well-to-do families. At the time of marriage between the parties, Darshan Gupta, the husband was 22 years of age, and Radhika Gupta was 19. Now the husband is 35, and the wife 32. The marriage between the parties was duly consummated, and their relationship blossomed into one full of love and affection.

2. The cordiality between the parties continued for a period of two years, till the wife conceived for the first time in February 1999. The aforestated conception was aborted when Radhika Gupta was in the fourth month of her pregnancy, as she had commenced to suffer from hypertension resulting into fits, extreme morning sickness and general weakness. The decision to abort the pregnancy in June, 1999, was based on medical advice.

3. The wife Radhika Gupta conceived for the second time in