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2017 Supreme(Pat) 1050
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PATNA
RAVI RANJAN, S. KUMAR, JJ.
Krishna Murari Sinha - Appellant
Versus
Smt. Asha Sinha - Respondent
Miscellaneous Appeal No.433 of 2014
Decided On : 21-07-2017
For the Appellant :Mr. Bachan Jee Ojha and Mr. Umesh Prasad, Advocates
For the Respondent:Mr. Arvind Kumar Tiwary and Mr. Manoj Kumar Singh, Advocates
The court emphasized the need for substantial proof of grounds for divorce and the impact of condonation on the granting of a decree of divorce.
Headnote:
Adultery - Divorce - Hindu Marriage Act - Section 13(i) - 11.06.2014
Fact of the Case:
The appellant-husband filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery, desertion, mental disorder, and cruelty against the respondent-wife. The family court dismissed the divorce petition, and the appellant-husband appealed.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the allegations of adultery and mental disorder were not proven. The court also found that the mandatory requirement of desertion of two years prior to filing for divorce was not fulfilled. The court did find instances of cruelty but concluded that the husband had condoned the cruelty by resuming co-habitation, and therefore, no decree of divorce could be granted on the ground of cruelty.
Issues: The issues revolved around the grounds for divorce, including adultery, desertion, mental disorder, and cruelty, and whether the appellant-husband's conduct had condoned the cruelty of the respondent-wife.
Ratio Decidendi: The court's decision was based on the lack of proof for the grounds of divorce, the failure to fulfill the mandatory requirement of desertion, and the condonation of cruelty by the appellant-husband.
Final Decision: The appeal filed by the appellant-husband was dismissed as devoid of merit.
Ravi Ranjan, J.
1. This Miscellaneous Appeal has been filed by the appellant-husband against the judgment and order dated 11.06.2014 passed by the Principal Judge, Family Court, Nalanda, Biharsharif, in Divorce Case no. 114 of 2005 whereby and whereunder the family court has dismissed the divorce petition filed by the appellant-husband under section 13(i) of the Hindu Marriage Act.
2. The brief fact in the present appeal is that the appellant-husband had married respondent-wife on 24.06.1988 according to Hindu rites and customs. The appellant-husband is the resident of village-Kahuara, P.S. Nardiganj, District-Nawada. After marriage the respondent-wife started living with appellant-husband at village-Kahuara. The case of the appellant is that the behaviour and conduct of respondent-wife made life of appellant/husband miserable and it became impossible for the appellant-husband to stay with respondent-wife. The divorce petition has been filed by the appellant-husband on the grounds of (i) adultery (ii) desertion (iii) mental disorder (iv) cruelty.
3. The trial court in paragraph-2 of its impugned judgment dated 11.06.2014 has given details of the appellant-husband's case on the basis of which he was seeking divorce from the respondent-wife. Paragraph-2 of the judgment is quoted below:-
"Para-2- As per petition dated 25.06.2005 of the petitioner Krishna Murari Sinha, the fact of the case is that he got married with O.P. Smt. Asha Sinha on 24.06.1988 according to Hindu religion and rites. The plaintiff is resident of village Kahuara, P.S. Nardiganj, Distrit-Nawadah (Bihar). It was an arranged marriage. So when after the marriage, o.p. Smt Asha Sinha started living with the plaintiff at village Kahuara. Then he came to know that she is suffering from mental depression because she was using filthy and dirty language regarding sex, not only in bed room, but also publicly. The plaintiff-petitioner and the respondent/opposite party live together for about a year but was married life was unhappy due to mental torture given by the respondent to the plaintiff. The O.P. No.1 always used to suspect the character of the plaintiff and used to watch day to day affair. She alleged that the plaintiff has got illicit relation with his Bhabhi, namely, Sunaina Devi. She used to state that Smt. Sunaina Devi is a prostitute and plaintiff is a dog. She also used to state that they were having sexual relation regularly. It has also been alleged that O.P. No. 1 was having illicit sexual relation with her Bahnoi Sri Kedar Nath Sinha, who is O.P. No. 2 and is resident of village Bargaon P.S.-Nalanda, District-Nalanda where O.P. No. 1 used to visit regularly in the gap of two to three months and they were having sexual intercourse knowing the fact that O.P. No. 1 is lawfully wedded wife of petitioner. It has also been alleged that on 04.01.2004 O.P. No. 2 Kedar Nath Sinha came at Ranchi and threatened the plaintiff to kill him if he object his relation with O.P. No. 1 Asha Sinha. Several time he came at Ranchi and gave some threatening. She used to threat that the petitioner has kept Sunaina Devi who is a prostitute and so threatened to be nude in public. She would go naked in police station, she would walk nacked in public with red flag and would raise slogan against the petitioner. It has also been stated that the marriage took place in the year 1988 but the O.P. has not spent a period of 15 months altogether with the petitioner. Even the O.P. No. 1 refused to have sexual intercourse with the petitioner and used filthy language against him whenever the petitioner tried to have sexual intercourse. The O.P. No. 1 assaulted him and tried to injure his male organ. It has also been stated that after February, 2000 the O.P. No. 1 visited the place of petitioner at Ranchi several times on some gap but she never allowed him to have sexual intercourse. The petitioner tried to have sexual intercourse for a child but she did not allow him due to her mental d
