IMPORTANT POINT
Divorce – A dead marriage can be given a decent quietus while protecting interest of divorced wife by granting her a decent alimony.

ORDER

VIKRAM NATH, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The instant appeals arise out of the impugned order dated 25.04.2018 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Bombay Bench at Nagpur in Family Court Appeal No. 37 of 2017 whereby the High Court dismissed the appellant’s appeal challenging the decree of divorce granted by the Family Court.

3. The brief facts of the matter are that the marriage between the appellant-wife and the respondent-husband was solemnized on 27.06.2012 at Nagpur as per Hindu rights and customs after a courtship of about four years and the appellant started cohabiting with the respondent at the matrimonial house. The respondent filed Petition No. A-943 of 2014 before the Family Court, Nagpur under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 [HMA] seeking grant of divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion. It was alleged by the respondent in the divorce petition that soon after the marriage, his father suffered some heart problem and was required to be hospitalized for about fifteen days during which the husband could not devote enough time to the appellant which became the cause of her anguish and displeasure. Resultantly, the appellant left the company of the respondent and went to her maternal home. It was further claimed by the respondent that he had made attempts to bring the appellant back to the matrimonial home who exhibited reluctance to return as she did not want to cohabit with him in a joint family. Therefore, it was stated that the parties stayed together for about only two months and there is no issue out of the wedlock.

4. It was also brought forth by the respondent that the appellant had earlier filed a Petition No. A- 1065/12 before the Family Court under Section 6 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 [FCA] read with Section 34 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 and Section 12 of the HMA seeking declaration of marriage between the two as null and void on the ground that a fraud was played upon her and her family by the respondent and his family members whose sole intention behind the marriage was to extract money from the appellant’s parents. However, the said petition was dismissed by the Family Court vide its judgment dated 01.08.2014. The appellant neither preferred any appeal against the order dated 01.08.2014 nor joined back the company of the respondent-husband.

5. The allegations of cruelty levelled by the respondent against the appellant mainly revolved around her threatening the respondent and his family members of filing false and malicious criminal proceedings against them. The said allegations were vehemently denied by the appellant in her written statement before the Family Court wherein she stated that she treated her husband and his family members in a proper manner and always wished to cohabit with the husband but was rather constrained to reside separately as she was being subjected to physical and verbal abuse by the husband. The respondent also submitted that the appellant-wife has, during the cross-examination, suggested that he had an illicit relationship with the wife of his friend Gaurav Chawla and such a suggestion in itself would lead to mental cruelty upon the husband.

6. As per the appellant, the respondent had obtained an ex-parte decree of divorce dated 09.01.2015 from the Family Court against which she appealed before the High Court and the High Court had remanded the matter back to the Family Court for a fresh trial after hearing both the parties.

7. Thereafter, the Family Court, in view of the mandate of Section 9 of FCA, made attempts to bring about an amicable settlement between the parties which failed. Subsequently, the Family Court after framing the issues, hearing the parties, examining the witnesses and perusing the record, allowed the respondent’s petition on the ground of cruelty and dissolved the marriage between the parties vide judgment dated 31.07.2017. The Family Court held that even though a continuous separation of two years was not established and the ground o