JUDGEMENT :- The defendants in O.S. No. 3785 of 1970 on the file of the City Civil Court at Madras are the appellants. The plaintiffs filed the suit in forma pauperis for recovery of maintenance past and future and for the recovery of a sum of Rs. 5000/- for the marriage expenses of the second plaintiff in the following circumstances. The first defendant (first appellant is the husband of the first plaintiff-first respondent). The marriage took place in 1948 at Madras. The second plaintiff Lakshmi is the daughter born to them. In 1951 the first defendant began to illtreat the first plaintiff and ceased to look after her and the second plaintiff. The plaintiffs were therefore compelled to file O.S. No. 1829 of 1958 on the file of the City Civil Court for maintenance. That ended in a compromise, under which the second plaintiff was awarded future maintenance at the rate of Rs. 35/- per month and a sum of Rs. 400/- for past maintenance. The claim of the first plaintiff for maintenance was not pressed. Thereafter, the first defendant filed O.P. No. 205 of 1961 for restitution of conjugal rights against the first plaintiff. Though the petition was dismissed by the trial court,