2018 Supreme(Mad) 833
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
A. SELVAM, P. KALAIYARASAN, JJ.
P. Nandha Kumar – Appellant
Versus
R. Ajanta – Respondent
C.M.A. Nos. 2178 & 2179 of 2017
Decided On : 07-02-2018
For the Appellant :R. Thiyagarajan, Anil Relwani, Advocates
For the Respondent:V. Ayyathurai, Senior Counsel for V. Balamurugan, Advocate
Headnote:
Family Laws – Ground Of Cruelty – Desertion – Restitution of conjugal rights – Two Civil Miscellaneous Appeals have been filed by the husband against the common order, passed by the Family Court, Erode in H.M.O.P. dismissing the divorce petition on the ground of cruelty and desertion filed by the husband and allowing the petition for restitution of conjugal rights filed by the wife. – Held, Irretrievably broken marriage is not a ground under the Act. – Further in the case on hand, it cannot be said that the marriage has been irretrievably broken down for the reasons that the wife in her evidence says that till filing of the divorce petition, her husband used to visit her and child in her parental home and the present temporary separation between spouses is mainly because of the attitude of the mother-in-law and the wife wants to join with her husband particularly for the welfare of their female child now aged 14 years. – Trial Court has rightly dismissed the petition for divorce and allowed the petition for restitution of conjugal rights. – This Court does not see any error in the order of the trial Court and therefore, both these civil miscellaneous appeals are to be dismissed. – Civil Miscellaneous Appeals Dismissed
P. Kalaiyarasan, J.
1. These two Civil Miscellaneous Appeals have been filed by the husband against the common order, dated 13.10.2016 passed by the Family Court, Erode in H.M.O.P.No.103 of 2014 and H.M.O.P.No.649 of 2014 dismissing the divorce petition on the ground of cruelty and desertion filed by the husband and allowing the petition for restitution of conjugal rights filed by the wife.
2. The case of the appellant/husband is that the marriage between him and the respondent was solemnised on 08.09.2003 at Erode as per Hindu Rites and Customs and they were blessed with a female child on 07.12.2004. Ever since the date of marriage, the wife was not having cordial relationship with the husband as well as with his family members. In the first week of 2004, she left the marital home without informing the petitioner and his family members. The appellant/husband brought the respondent back from her parental home. Again in October 2004, she went to her parental home and refused to come back. The appellant was informed only when the wife was taken to the operation theater in the hospital. The appellant was not allowed to see the baby. Again in the first week of May 2006, the respondent quarreled with the husband and left the matrimonial home with her baby with a open declaration that she will never come back to her matrimonial home. The husband made a final attempt in the last week of May 2006 through mediators to bring back the wife and the child but in vain. Thus the wife caused untold mental agony apart from desertion.
3. The respondent/wife denied all the allegations of cruelty and desertion made by the husband in his petition. She averred in her counter that the husband was doing civil contract business in and around Kumbakonam and as such he had to stay away from the home and he used to visit her once in every two months. The mother-in-law and sister-in-law of the respondent caused mental cruelty to her. The birth of the child was immediately informed and neither the petitioner nor his mother visited the child. Only after a long persuasion and deliberation, the husband visited the child after three days. Thereafter they did not visit the child for about 5 months. The husband never showed any interest in the child. They never attended the needs of the wife and the child. On 07.07.2005, when they returned to Erode after attending a marriage at Kerala, the mother-in-law of the respondent picked up quarrel with the respondent and her parents and insulted them. On the next day, the respondent and the child were forcibly sent out of the matrimonial home by the mother-in-law and sister-in-law proclaiming that the respondent would soon get a divorce notice from her husband. When the petitioner was informed about the same, he also insisted the wife to leave the matrimonial home and stay with her parents till his return from the work.
4. The respondent never left the matrimonial home. She was driven out from the matrimonial home by the mother-in-law and sister-in-law. The wife is always willing to live with her husband and the husband alone has been living separately as per the tunes of his mother without any justifiable reason.
5. On the side of the husband, one witness was examined and 8 Exhibits were marked. On the side of the respondent, two witnesses were examined and 7 Exhibits marked.
6. The learned trial Judge after analysing oral and documentary evidence of both sides, dismissed the petition for divorce filed by the husband and granted restitution of conjugal rights as prayed by the wife. Aggrieved by the said common order, the husband has preferred both these Civil Miscellaneous Appeals.
7. The learned counsel appearing for the appellant argued that the wife has no intention to live with the appellant/husband and left the matrimonial home without any justifiable reason and the cruelty exerted on the appellant by the wife has been established and therefore, the Judgment of the trial Court is liable to be set aside. He also