A person who had originally the domicil of British India, unless he had subsequently acquired the domicil of some other country outside the ambit of the territories which were originally British India, he would automatically acquire the domicil either of India or of Pakistan.

( 1 ) THE petitioner wife filed an' application under Section 10, Divorce Article for dissolution of her marriage with the respondent. Neither the respondent nor the co-respondent appeared before the lower Court. The decree nisi was passed ex parte by the Additional District Judge, Alipore. When the proceeding came up before this Court for confirmation appearance was entered on behalf of the husband respondent. On his behalf it was contended that the Alipore Court had no jurisdiction to entertain the application.

( 2 ) IN the petition for dissolution of marriages it was stated that the parties were domiciled in India at the time of their marriage in 1948. Evi- deuce was led to this effect on behalf of the petitioner and the learned Judge came to a finding that it was so. Under Section 2, Divorce Act, it is necessary that there should, be a definite finding that the parties were domiciled in India at the time when the petition for dissolution was presented. During the ex parte hearing no evidence was adduced in support of such a case and no finding was recorded by the Judge. The attention, of this Court having been drawn to this matter by the respondent the following issue was sent down for decision by the trial Court: "were the parties domiciled in India at the time when the petition was presented".

( 3 ) AFTER this issue had been sent down evidence was led by the parties and on a consideration of such evidence the Additional District Judge has recorded the finding that at the time when the application for dissolution of marriage was presented on 2-5-1950, the parties were domiciled in the dominion of Pakistan and not in the Republic of India.

( 4 ) AT the final hearing before us it had been strenuously argued on behalf of the petitioner wife that since 15-8-1947 the domicil of the parties was the Indian domicil. In the alternative it is contended that even if the domicil of the respondent husband had not since 15-8-1947 been the Indian domicil he had adopted thereafter the domicil of India and both the parties had acquired the domicil of India before the date of the presentation of the application by the wife for dissolution of marriage.

( 5 ) FOR a proper appreciation of the questions raised before us it is necessary to refer to the facts as elicited from the evidence adduced by the parties.

( 6 ) BOTH the parties admittedly professed the Christian faith. The petitioner and both her parents were residents of Calcutta or near about from long before 15-8-1947 and continued thereafter. The place where the petitioner's parents stayed have since 15-8-1947 been included in the Indian Dominion. The petitioner was of Indian domicil from after 15-8-1947. Whether after her marriage the same domical continued would depend on the question whether her husband was of Indian domicil.

( 7 ) THE respondent husband was born in 1912 at Mardan, in area which then within the North-West Frontier Province was situate within the then British India. Since 15-8-1947 this area has beeen within the Dominion of Pakistan. The respondent's father lived at Peshawar and died there in 1940. The respondent was baptized at Mar-dan and was educated at different places in the North-West Frontier Province. In 1933 he entered Government service at Peshawar in the office of the local Secretariat. In 1946 his services were lent by the British Indian Government to the British Embassy at Kabul within Afganis-than. He has ever since been working at Kabul and has also been residing there. It also appears that since 1946 the respondent husband had not resided for any length of time in the North-West Frontier Province or in any other part of Pakis- tan.

( 8 ) THE respondent had never even visited any other part of British India before 1948. He came to what has become Western-Bengal for the first time in December 1948. He came from Kabul to marry the petitioner. The respondent's in-other had from before been staying at Kon-nagar in the District o