Section 14 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 is a mandatory provision, and the intention and object of the legislation should be respected.

D.V. Shylendra Kumar, J : A petition filed by the petitioner husband under Section 13[1][ia] of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 [for short 'the Act'] before the Court of I Additional Principal Judge, Family Court, Bangalore, came to be dismissed by the Trial Court on the respondent - wife filing an application under Section 14 of the Act pointing out that the petition having been presented within a period of one year from the date of the marriage was not tenable in law.

2. The learned Judge of the Trial Court having looked into this aspect of the matter and as a matter of fact having found that the petition was presented within a period of one year, not only allowed the application, but also dismissed the matrimonial petition itself in terms of its order dated 2.9.2009 reading as under:

"I.A. No. VIII is allowed.

It is held that the petition is not maintainable under sec. 14 of H.M. Act. Consequently the petition is dismissed with liberty to the petitioner to file fresh petition according to law."

3. It is aggrieved by this order, the present appeal under Section 19 of the Family Courts Act.

4. Appearing on behalf of the appellant. Sri Vivekananda, learned Counsel would very vehemently urge that the period of one year was about to be over: that the shortage was only of a period of twenty days or so and in such circumstances, in terms of Section 14 of the Act which reads as under:

14. No petition for divorce to be presented within one year of marriage.-(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, it shall not be competent for any Court to entertain any petition for dissolution of a marriage by a decree of divorce, unless at the date of the presentation of the petition one year has elapsed since the date of the marriage.

Provided that the Court may, upon application made to it in accordance with such rules as may be made by the High Court in that behalf, allow a petition to be presented before one year has elapsed since the date 6f the marriage on the ground that the case is one of exceptional hardship to the petitioner or of exceptional depravity on the part of the respondent, but if it appears to the Court at the hearing of the petition that the petitioner obtained leave to present the petition by any misrepresentation or concealment of the nature of the case, the Court may, if it pronounces a decree, do so subject to the condition that the decree shall not have effect until after the expiry of one year from the date of the marriage or may dismiss the petition without prejudice to any petition which may he brought after the expiration of the said one year upon the same or substantially the same facts as those alleged in support of the petition so dismissed.

(2) In disposing of any application under this section for leave to present a petition for divorce before the expiration of one year from the date of the marriage, the Court shall have regard to the interests of any children of the marriage and to the question whether there is a reasonable probability of a reconciliation between the parties before the expiry of the said one year."

the petition should have been entertained by the Court, as several other High Courts have entertained the petition and one such case was decided by the Calcutta High Court which took the view that the provision is not mandatory but only directory and therefore urges that the Trial Court erred in dismissing the petition itself, even without have examining the possibility of retaining the petition etc.

5. Learned Counsel for the appellant has placed reliance in support of his submission on the Judgment of the Calcutta High Court in the case of 'Rabindra Nath Mukherjee Vs. ITI Mukherjee @ Chatterjee' reported in 95 CWN 1085.

6. A bare reading of Section 14 of the Act would leave one with no doubt that it is the mandate of the legislature that a Court should not entertain a petition for dissolution of marriage by decree of divorce unless on the date of presentation of the petition one year has elaps