Cruelty and desertion are grounds for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

( 1 ) THE Chandhoka were married on 27-2-1944 at Peshawar. In 1947, they migrated to Delhi. One daughter and three sons were born out of the wedlock. After 34 years of marital existence husband O. N. Chandhok filed a petition for divorce on 30-5-1977 on the ground Of desertion and. cruelty. The wife Lajwanti Chandhok pleaded counter cruelty and also alleged that the husband had extra-marital relations with two Sethi girls namely, Satish and Vinod. The learned Additional District Judge found that cruelty on the part of the wife was established. By his order of 21-9-1979 he allowed the application and dissolved the marriage. Aggrieved, the wife has come in appeal. The husband has filed a cross-objection challenging the finding that desertion was not proved.

( 2 ) I have heard arguments. My attempts. at reconciliation and counsel have failed.

( 3 ) THE allegation of the husband 13 that right from the day of marriage, Lajwanti began to treat him with mental and physical cruelty and it had now become unbearable. She is haughty, quarrelsome and aggressive. She use to lose temper on him without any rhyme or reason, used to abuse him very frequently, insult and manhandle him and used to hurl chappals, shoes, glasses and bottles at him. She falsely accused him of immorality. She refused to live with him in the year 1975 after their eldest son Ashok left for Canada. She was provided with a ground floor accommodation and the whole family moved upstairs. but even then, she did not relent rather her acts of cruelty continued to maltiply. She injured him once on ,26-1-1976 and again on 18-5-1976. She started demanding transfer of the house in her name and from May, 1976 started sending all types of signed or unsigned letters or pseudonymous letters to his employers, friends, relatives and officers including the Prime Minister, maligning his character. He moved with the other members of the family to another house in Greater Kailash in June, 1976. Yet, on March 15, 1977 she pelted stones on his car. It had become impossible for him to live with her any more. He told me that he has blood pressure and suffers from heart trouble. Divorce necessary for his very survival.

( 4 ) IN her reply, the wife said that until the year 1960, the relations between them were nothing but cordial. Thereafter, the husband took to drinking and womanising and cultivated intimacy with the girls, Satish Sethi and Vinod Sethi. That infuriated her. She became hysteric and objected to his illicit connections with those two girls. She is still prepared to live with him but in the house in which she has been living. The petition suffers from delay and has been made with the motive to divorce her so that he may have free illicit connection with the aforesaid girls.

( 5 ) APART from all what happened till 1975, it is clear that from : l8-5-1976 onwards she started writing anonymous letters to the Prime Minister, late Shri Sanjay Ganhi, Shri Jag Pravesh, I. G. Police. S. D. M. Lajpatnagar and to his relations. She also lodged. reports against the husband with the police. She addressed a letter (Ex. A4 ). dated 16-3-1978. to the Vice President of the Distillers Association where the husband is working as its Secretary. She made complaints to Charan Singh and filed a complaint against him under sections 107/150 Criminal Procedure Code. She hurled stones on him, causing an injury in the forehead. On 26-1-1976. when his brother came to see him the wife banged the door and when he opened the door, she abused him and hit him with kerosene oil pipe. She hurled chappals on him In the presence of his son Ashok and his wife. The husband refuted the allegations that be had kept goondas in the house as tenants and on 18-5-1976 bad torn her clothes and gave her a harsh beating.

( 6 ) THE wife admitted that the husband kept her in comfort and even financed her trip abroad but the cleavage occurred in 1975 and from 1976 the husband is not living with her. She admitted that sh