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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY AT NAGPUR BENCH
V.M. Deshpande, J.
Shrikant Kishor Puri - Appellant
Versus
Sau. Shradha @ Padma - Respondent
First Appeal No. 824 of 2006
Decided On : 20-08-2018
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 - Section 13(1)(ia)( ib) - Petition for Divorce - Appeal is directed against judgment and award - Whether petitioner proves that respondent treated him with cruelty - Whether petitioner proves that the respondent has deserved him for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of petition - Whether petitioner is entitled to decree of divorce as prayed - marriage between the appellant and the respondent, as per the petition, was solemnised respondent came in her matrimonial house, which consist of the mother of the appellant and his younger brother. As per the petition, the marriage of the respondent with the appellant was solemnised against her wish and therefore, she was not behaving properly - Pleadings in the petition show that the respondent used to always insult appellant and his aged mother and thereby causing mental cruelty to him - Gist of petition is that respondent always used to leave her matrimonial house and used to reside in her parental house and was always reluctant in returning to her matrimonial house - Held, In the instant case, upon appreciation of the evidence, trial Court came to conclusion that merely for monetary considerations, the Respondent wife wanted to get her husband separated from his family - Averment of the Respondent was to effect that the income of the Appellant was also spent for maintaining his family - High Court considered this to be a justifiable reason - In opinion of High Court, wife had a legitimate expectation to see that the income of her husband is used for her and not for the family members of the Respondent husband. We do not see any reason to justify the said view of the High Court. As stated herein-above, in a Hindu society, it is a pious obligation of the son to maintain the parents - If a wife makes an attempt to deviate from the normal practise and normal custom of the society, she must have some justifiable reason for that and in this case, we do not find any justifiable reason, except monetary consideration of the Respondent wife. In our opinion, normally, no husband would tolerate this and no son would like to be separated from his old parents and other family members, who are also dependent upon his income. The persistent effort of the Respondent wife to constrain the Appellant to be separated from the family would be torturous for the husband and in our opinion, the trial Court was right when it came to the conclusion that this constitutes an act of cruelty - Petition dismissed
JUDGMENT
V.M. Deshpande, J. (Oral) - The present appeal is directed against the judgment and award passed by the learned 2nd Adhoc Additional District Judge, Yavatmal dated 31.8.2006 in Hindu Marriage Petition No. 30/2004, whereby the learned Judge of the Court below dismissed the petition for divorce filed on behalf of the appellant.
2. The appellant had filed the petition for divorce against the respondent under Section 13(1)(ia)( ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
3. The marriage between the appellant and the respondent, as per the petition, was solemnised on 20.4.1999. Thereafter, the respondent came in her matrimonial house, which consist of the mother of the appellant and his younger brother. As per the petition, the marriage of the respondent with the appellant was solemnised against her wish and therefore, she was not behaving properly. The pleadings in the petition show that the respondent used to always insult the appellant and his aged mother and thereby causing mental cruelty to him. The gist of the petition is that the respondent always used to leave her matrimonial house and used to reside in her parental house and was always reluctant in returning to her matrimonial house. It is also stated in the petition that whenever the appellant used to visit the parental house of the respondent to fetch her, that time she used to insult the petitioner. It is also stated in the petition that the matter was referred to Womens Grievances Committee at Wardha and before the said Committee, it was stated by the respondent that unless the appellant resides separately from his aged mother, she will not accompany with him. With these basic pleadings, the petition for divorce was filed before the Court below.
4. On being summoned, the respondent put her appearance before the Court below and filed her written submissions vide Exh.15. All the adverse allegations were denied by the respondent. On the rival pleadings, following issues were framed by the Court below :
|
| Issues | Findings |
| 1. | Whether the petitioner proves that the respondent treated him with cruelty ? | .....No |
| 2. | Whether the petitioner proves that the respondent has deserved him for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of petition ? | .....No |
| 3. | Whether the petitioner is entitled to decree of divorce as prayed ? | ......No |
| 4. | What order and relief ? | ...As per final order. |
5. In order to prove their respective case, the petitioner as well as the respondent entered into the witness box. Apart from the petitioner, the petitioner examine three other witnesses. The respondent did not examine any other witness except her.
6. After appreciating the pleadings, the documents and evidence as brought on record, the Court below vide impugned judgment and decree dismissed the petition. Hence, this appeal.
7. I have heard Shri S.S. Bhalerao, the learned counsel for the appellant. Nobody put appearance in the present appeal for the respondent, though she has been duly served.
8. After hearing the learned counsel for the appellant and after perusing the record, following points do arise for my consideration :
1. Whether the Court below was right in dismissing the Hindu Marriage Petition filed on behalf of the appellant ?
2. What order ?
9. The appellant''s evidence is on the line of the pleadings made by him in the marriage petition. In the petition, it is specifically pleaded by the appellant that the respondent was insisting that she will reside and/or their matrimonial life can go on only when the appellant reside separately from his mother.
10. Exh.54 is the disability certificate given by the appropriate authority. It pertains to the mother of the appellant. Perusal of said certificate shows that disability of the
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