A. K. Srivastava, J.

( 1 ) THIS is the husband s appeal filed against judgment and order dated 7. 2. 1996 passed by Shri S. M. Chopra, Additional District Judge in H. M. A. Petition No. 393/95 instituted by wife under Section 12 (1) (c) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (for short the Act ) for annullment of her marriage with the appellant by a decree of nullity. By the impugned order, the marriage between the parties has been annulled on the grounds that the consent of the respondent was obtained by fraud as to the material facts and circumstances concerning the appellant.

( 2 ) THE facts in brief are that the appellant and the respondent got married at Delhi on 24. 7. 1994 according to Hindu rites. They lived together for some time but differences arose between them which even led to lodging of a complaint by the respondent to Dowry Cell of the Delhi Police on 14. 9. 94. An FIR was also lodged by the respondent against the appellant and his parents. The respondent is said to have left the company of the appellant in August, 1994 itself and thereafter it is alleged that they did not live together. Before the Dowry Cell, an agreement was reached between the parties on 29. 9. 1994 duly signed by them in the following terms:-

"we, Anurag and Sunita decided to live peacefully in any accommodation which is suitable to both of us, it must not be very near to our parents house. The gold is not with us. sd/- sd/- Sunita anand Anurag 29. 9. 94 I shall be responsible for her welfare and security after she supports living with me. sd/- Anurag 29. 9. 1994. I will not pursue with this complaint anymore. sd/- Sunita"

( 3 ) THE case of the respondent before the lower court was that after the aforesaid settlement she became suspicious about the antecedents of the appellant and, therefore, requested the DCP, Women Cell to verify the particulars as given in the bio data of the appellant. She also made enquiries from her own sources and came to know that the respondent s father had given false particulars and had made material factual misrepresentation with respect to the appellant s date of birth, salary and property status. She, therefore, contended in her petition before the lower court that her consent for the marriage had been induced by the opposite party and his family members by having made false representations relating to the aforesaid material facts.

( 4 ) IT would be appropriate to have in mind the facts relating to the settlement and solemnization of the marriage between the appellant and the respondent.

( 5 ) ON 22. 5. 1994, an advertisement was placed in the matrimonial columns of the Hindustan Times by the father of the respondent seeking a groom for the respondent. The advertisement read as under:-

"wanted for a Brahmin, Mohyal girl, 24/155, fair, beautiful, slim, educated, working in Pvt. Airlines, getting 5000. 00 , of respectable family, preferably from IAS/irs/customs/ doctors/engineers, any other established vocations. Box 44515-CA, Hindustan Times, New Delhi-110001. "

( 6 ) IN response to the above advertisement, the appellant s father addressed the following communication to respondent s father:-

( 7 ) IN response to the aforesaid letter of the appellant s father, the father of the respondent gave the particulars of the respondent and also family background as under:-

( 8 ) THEREAFTER meetings took place between the parties and the marriage was settled.

( 9 ) IN her statement on oath before the lower court, the respondent stated that father of the appellant saying that he was a heart-patient wanted an early marriage of his son and that was how the marriage was performed early; that her bio data was sent by her father to the appellant s father on 12. 6. 94 and that on 13. 6. 94, father of the appellant had given a phone call to her father and wanted everyone in the family to visit the appellant s house on that very date in the evening so that there could be progress in marriage negotiations. It is also stated that both the fami

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