P.C. Balakrishna Menon, J.

1. This is a petition under S.18 of the Indian Divorce Act 1869 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), by the husband for a declaration of nullity of marriage between himself and the respondent on grounds 1 and 3 of S.19 of the Act, namely that the respondent was impotent at the time of marriage and at the time of the institution of the proceedings and that she was a lunatic or idiot at the time of marriage. It is also alleged that since the respondent is a lunatic or idiot she is incapable of giving consent the condition of the respondent was not disclosed to the petitioner by the respondent's parents and the petitioner's consent was obtained by fraud practised on him. Thus according to the petitioner the marriage was without consent of the parties thereto.

2. The petitioner belongs to the Marthomite Christian community, while the respondent is a Jacobite Christian. The petitioner's house is at Niranam, thirteen kilometers away from Thiruvalla, where the respondent has her parental home. The marriage between them was solemnised on 29-8-1974 at the St.