S.C. Gupte, J.

1. This appeal is filed by the Appellant husband, whose petition for divorce against the Respondent wife was dismissed by the Family Court. Considering the nature of dispute, we have blocked the names of the parties in the cause title.

2. The Appellant and the Respondent were married on 2 May 1999. Since 14 December 1999, the Respondent has not stayed in the matrimonial home except for a few days between 18 August, 2005 to 12 October, 2005 after the Appellant filed the present petition for divorce. In between there have been several matrimonial and criminal proceedings between the parties, as mentioned hereinafter. The Appellant sought divorce on the grounds of desertion and cruelty. The Petition was dismissed on 24 August 2006. The present appeal was filed by the Appellant on 6 November 2006. During the pendancy of the present appeal, a spate of criminal prosecutions has been launched by the Respondent against the Appellant, as narrated hereinafter. All this while the parties have been staying separately. There is no issue out of the wedlock. In the backdrop of these facts, the appeal needs to be considered.

3. The case of desertion as made out by the Appellant in his pleadings and evidence may be briefly summarized as follows:

(i) After about 7 months of marriage, during which there have been studied neglect and indifference on the part of the Respondent, on 14 December 1999 the Respondent's father and brother suddenly came to the matrimonial home to fetch the Respondent citing the reason of critical illness of her mother. At that time, the Respondent was pregnant and not in a position to travel. She, however, left for Ahmednagar where her parents lived. (The Respondent has denied the allegations of studied neglect and indifference, but the incident of 14 December 1999 is admitted.)

(ii) According to the Appellant, there was no communication thereafter about the illness or the state of health of the Respondent's mother. (This is disputed by the Respondent.)

(iii) On 18 December 1999, the Appellant was seriously injured in the left leg and adviced bed rest for 14 days. The Respondent was informed about it, but refused to come back to the matrimonial home.

(iv) On the Appellant's request a few days thereafter to come back, the Respondent refused to return on the ground that the Appellant's sister 'S' had ill-treated her. 'S' thereupon wrote a letter to the Respondent with a view to clear the misunderstandings and even apologized with a view to mollify the Respondent's feelings.

(v) There was no response from the Respondent. She continued to stay away from the matrimonial home. (It is the Respondent's case that the Respondent could not undertake the journey from Ahmednagar to Mumbai on medical advice.)

(vi) On 27 April 2000, when the Respondent was in the seventh month of pregnancy, the Appellant went to her house at Ahmednagar to visit the Respondent and stayed there till 2 May 2000.

(vii) On 8 June 2000, the Appellant received a call that the Respondent was admitted in a hospital for some pregnancy related complication. On the same day, he left for Ahmednagar, and visited the hospital. The Respondent delivered a still – born baby.

(viii) On 12 June 2000, the Respondent was discharged from the hospital. The Appellant was at Ahmednangar during these days. He left for Mumbai on 14 June 2000.

(ix) Between July 2000 and September 2000, despite the Appellant's several calls, the Respondent did not return to Mumbai. Even the Appellant's father's call requesting the Respondent's father to send her home for a religious function held as a family tradition ('Kulachar') was not heeded. (The Respondent has denied the calls.)

(x) Between 10 October 2000 to 20 October 2000, the Respondent went on a South India Tour.

(xi) The Respondent did not come back to the matrimonial home even during the diwali festival (around 26 October 2000). When the Appellant called on the Diwali day, the Respondent refused to take the call