Irretrievable breakdown of marriage is a ground for divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

R.N.Sahay, J.

1. The appellant, Raghunath Ram, is the husband of the respondent. He instituted a suit for divorce on the ground of adultery but could not succeed. The suit was dismissed and hence he has preferred this appeal for setting aside the judgment of the 3rd Addl. Judicial Commissioner, Ranchi.

2. I have heard Sri Laik in support of the appeal at length. The wife despite notice has not appeared to contest the appeal. Sri Laik stated that the respondent is not interested in contesting the appeal and that she has left the village and that is why notice issued by this Court could not be served on her, although notice was directed to be served at the concerned police station.

3. The facts of the case are that the parties were married on 28.4.1977 according to Hindu rites. The appellant is serving as spy in the Indian Army. After marriage the respondent lived with the appellant for same time. A female child named Sushma was born in 1978. It is .alleged that on 5.10.79 the respondent left her husbands house in village Dahugutu without his consent and went to her fathers place at village Balahathi with bag and baggages. Her fathers village is contiguous to the appellants village. On 22.10.1980, one year after alleged desertion by the wife, the appellant went to his .sasural to bring her back, but she refused to come with the appellant stating that she would prefer to live with her paramour with whom she was having an affair prior to her marriage with the appellant. The appellant also alleged cruelty against the wife in the shape of vulgar utterances. The allegations were denied by the wife in her written statement and her evidence. She denied that she had any illicit connection whatsoever with anybody from before her marriage. She was a devoted Hindu wife and out of the union two children were born. The first child was a female child and the next child was a male who was born in March, 1981. The wife refuted the allegation that the second child was born out of her adulterous relationship with her lover whose name has not been disclosed. She also denied the allegation that she had deserted the appellant. As a matter of fact, the appellant left her to her Naihar when she was in the family way for the second time. The appellant had also promised to send her Rs. 100.00 per month. It was this which enraged the brother and parent of the appellant and they managed to get the case filed on false allegation. The learned Addl. Judicial Commissioner has dealt with the rival contention in paragraphs 4 to 7 of the judgment which for convenience are reproduced below:

Thus we find that the dissolution of marriage has been sought for on two grounds on that the respondent was leading an immoral life even after her marriage and secondly that she treated the petitioner with cruelty after the solemnization of marriage. Four PWs. have been examined on behalf of the petitioner out of whom P.W.I is the petitioner himself. It is admitted that the petitioner was married with the respondent in April, 1977. It is also admitted that the first female child was born to them out of this wedlock. Now what is controversial is birth of the second child. The evidence of the petitioner (P.W.I) is that the respondent finally withdrew from his society on 5.10.79 Now the male child as per case of the respondent was born on 21.3.81. The evidence of the respondent P.W.I is that her husband had come on leave in June 1980 when she had an occasion to conceive for the second time. The petitioner in support of his case, has filed record of his leave which has been marked Exts. l and 1/1 Ext.I has been filed to show that the petitioner was granted twenty days leave from 7.4.80 to 26.4.80. But apparently there appears overwriting in the month column even in the Photostate copy. It can be noticed from naked eye that the digit 4 of month has been forged. The evidence of the petitioner in para 10 on recall (wrongly enclosed with the evidence of the respondent) is that