TYAGI, J.—Smt. Lalita Devi has filed this appeal against the judgment and decree of the learned District Judge, Jaipur City, dated January 24, 1974, dismissing the suit of the petitioner appellant filed under the provisions of Hindu Marriage Act for the dissolution of the marriage with respondent Radha Mohan.

2. The facts giving rise to this appeal are in nut-shell as follows:

Lalita Devi was married to Radha Mohan at Jaipur on 5th April, 1963. Out of this wed-lock she gave birth to four children, out of whom two have already died. The grievance of Lalita Devi against Radha Mohan was that Radha Mohan was addicted to liquor and that he was not doing any work to earn the livelihood to maintain the petitioner Lalita Devi. Her further grievance was that Radha Mohan was a person of loose character indulging is sex with other ladies and that he was in love with one Chandra with whom letters were exchanged by Radha Mohan assuring Chandra to marry her and to keep her as his second wife. Lalita Devi filed a suit for the dissolution of the marriage in the District Court at Jaipur. But a compromise was affected between the parties on the assurance given by Radha Mohan that he would properly look after his wife Lalita Devi. It is alleged that for sometime Radhamohan properly looked after her but later on he again indulged in immoral life and acted cruelly while dealing with his wife. In these circumstances the present petition for divorce was filed under section 12 of the Hindu Marriage Act, (hereinafter referred to as the Act) praying that a decree of divorce be passed in her favour and in the alternative if decree for divorce cannot be passed then a decree for judicial separation be passed.

4. Radhamohan inspite of notice did not put his appearance in the court and therefore exparte proceedings were taken against him.

4. Petitioner Lalita Devi examined herself as a witness and also produced one Devi Singh P. W. 2, in support of her allegations against her husband. She also filed three letters one addressed by Chandra to Radha Mohan and two written by Radha Mohan to Chandra Learned judge after having gone through the oral testimony produced by Lalita Devi and the documentary evidence in the from of letters exchanged between Radha Mohan and Chandra came to the conclusion that form this scanty evidence it was difficult for the court to infer that Radha Mohan was living in adultery. The petition of Lalita Devi was, therefore, dismissed. It is in these circumstances that the present appeal has been filed by Lalita Devi.

5. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner appellant Lalita Devi candidly conceded before me that he cannot press for a decree of divorce because from the letters relied upon by the petitioner Lalita Devi it is difficult to infer that Radha Mohan was actually living in adultery but he urged that a decree for judicial separation for which a prayer has been made by the petitioner, could be passed in her favour as from the circumstances proved and brought on the record it could easily be inferred that Radha Mohan treated the petitioner with such cruelty as to cause reasonable apprehension in the mind of the petitioner that it will be harmful and injurious to the petitioner to live with Radha mohan. Smt. Lalita Devi has come in the witness-box and has deposed in an umambiguous language that Radha Mohan was not earning anything for pretty long time and that he was not looking after the petitioner and her two children with a result that she had to incur a debt to the tune of Rs. 6,000/- to maintain the family. She has also deposed that Radha Mohan used to beat her and when she went to police to lodge a report the police refused to register the case. According to this witness she had filed a petition for divorce previously also but it was compromised. But for a few days he reverted to his old habits of taking drinks and making overtures with other ladies. While proving the two letters Exs. 2 and 3, she stated that the lette

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