Desertion for a period of two years without any reasonable cause is a ground for divorce under Section 10(1)(a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

( 1 ) (PARTIES were married on 14. 11. 60 and lived togather for a month. Wife returned in Oct. , ,61 and again left in May, 62. Then she returned after 7 years in 1969 and stayed for 2 years and left again in Nov. , 71 and never returned thereafter. Husband sued her and trial Court upheld his plea of desertion for more than 2 years. Wife appealed to High Court.) The judgment, para 8 onwards is :

( 2 ) THERE is no evidence to show that there was anything in the conduct of the husband which prevented her from joining the matrimonial home. There is no suggestion by her that it was any other apprehension which prevented her from going back to her husband s home. The only reason given was that it was a matter of prestige because husband did not come to take her back. In this connection one should bear in mind that the husband had gone in 1961 and 1969 to bring back the wife; it cannot be thus said that the husband had deliberately made it a point not to bring her back. Evidently this time he felt that if she wanted to make the matrimonial home run she should come back, because it was not at his instance that she had gone away. It is in this context that the long absence from 1962 to 1969 by the wife without any justifiable reason assumes importance. It was not the husband who was responsible for sending her away. It is on the record that the husband had gone previously to her village to bring her back twice. Counsel for the appellant had argued that the period between 1962 to 1969 cannot be taken into account at all because of the resumption of the cohabitation and therefore the offence of desertion, if any, had occurred had been condoned and the period between 1962 to 1969 is totally irrelevant to the question of desertion. Put in this extreme way the argument is unacceptable. I am not suggesting that the period 1962 to 1969 can be counted for the purpose of providing the period of desertion by the appellant. All that I am saying is that that context cannot be completely shut out when considering the point whether the separation of the wife now from 1971 ownards amounts to desertion or not. I may note that in Bipinchandra (Supra) (AIR 1957 SC 1769 the reason that it was held that though the wife remains away from her husband s home she was found not to have deserted the husband was because the husband had written a letter in July, 1947 soon after the wife left the house in May 1947 in which he had stated that he had become entitled to divorce and does not desire to keep his wife any longer under his care. It was also found that the wife was willing to come back after having been away for only a few months and she actually lived during that period with parents of the husband. The courts commented adversely on the fact that the husband had not examined either his father or mother in that regard and therefore came to the conclusion that the wife had no intention in bringing the cohabitation permanently to an end and as such had not deserted her husband. In the present case however the going away of the wife in 1971 and keeping away from matrimonial home without any justifiable reason from 1971 onwards for a period of over 2 years certainly does raise an inference that she had deserted the husband with an intention to bring cohabitation permanetely to an end. It is in that context that her earlier absence of 7 years plays a vital part. After all it is not a small period for a young couple to be separated for 7 years. It is most unnatural for a wife to remain away from the husband for 7 years without reasonable cause and yet suggest that there was no intention to bring cohabitation permanently to an end. Matrimonial home is not like a game of house building which can at any time be locked up and reopened. It is a living constant human institution which requires daily contact and sharing of life and experience jointly and sympathetically. When this live contact is broken for a long period without any reasonable cause, mat