The court affirmed that unsubstantiated allegations of cruelty do not warrant divorce, and recognized the right to maintenance post-divorce.

JUDGMENT :

(R. SAKTHIVEL, J.)

Challenging the Judgment and Decree dated April 8, 2015 passed by the Principal District Judge, Vellore, in I.D.O.P.No.36 of 2008, the petitioner has preferred this Civil Revision Petition.

2.For the sake of convenience, henceforth, the parties will be referred to as per their array in the I.D.O.P.

Petitioner’s Case

3.The marriage between the petitioner and respondent was solemnized on September 5, 2007 at Ammoor Village, Walajah Taluk, as per Christian Rites and Customs. Their marriage was registered as per the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872. According to the petitioner, at the time of marriage, the respondent concealed her age, which is seven years more than that of the petitioner. Further, the petitioner belongs to Adi- Dravidar Community and the respondent belongs to Kammavar Naidu. Therefore, the respondent is not willing to live along with the parents of the petitioner and very often, the respondent scolded the petitioner's parents in filthy language. Apart from that, she led a wayward life and without any information or intimation to the petitioner, the respondent left the matrimonial home and settled with her parents. Subsequently, she lodged a complaint before the All Women Police Station against the petitioner. Thus, the respondent treated the petitioner with cruelty, causing a reasonable apprehension in the petitioner's mind that living with her would be harmful and injurious to him. Hence, the petition for divorce.

Respondent's Case

4.The respondent admitted the marriage between the respondent and the petitioner. The respondent submits that the petitioner and his parents belonged to Adi Dravidar Community and are Christians by religions and the respondent belonged to Kammavar Naidu community by caste and Hindu by religion. Before their marriage, the respondent converted to Christianity, and the marriage was performed according to Christian rites. The respondent denied the allegation that she was older than the petitioner and that marriage was based on mutual love, however under the influence of petitioner's parents, petitioner avoid marriage and therefore, she was obliged to file a complaint to police and subsequently the petitioner agreed to marry the respondent and on that assurance the complaint was withdrawn by the respondent. The allegations contra made in para 6 of the petition are all false and denied.

4.1.The respondent denied the allegations that the parents of the petitioner presented gold jewellery to the respondent at the time of marriage apart from meeting the marriage expenses. As a matter of fact, the marriage expenses alone were met by the petitioner and his parents and subsequently the petitioner's parents received a sum of Rs.1 Lakh from the respondent's parents towards the marriage expenses incurred by them. Besides, the respondent's parents had presented 40 sovereigns of Gold jewels after two weeks from the date of marriage since they made up their mind to help their daughter to lead a peaceful life though they had not attended the marriage of the respondent with the petitioner. The respondent never thought of the religion or caste of the petitioner and his parents since she wholeheartedly loved the petitioner and wanted to live with him peacefully.

4.2.The respondent was subjected to cruelty by the petitioner and his parents. The petitioner started demanding money from the respondent by saying he was going to construct a building near VIT University, Vellore and when she expressed her inability to comply with his demand, the petitioner coerced her to get her share in the immovable property from her father following which they could sell the property and utilize the funds for construction of a building near VIT University.

4.3.The respondent came to understand that the petitioner never had inclination to live with her amicably but had an eye on the property of the respondent. The respondent submits that she married the petitioner knowing fully about the caste and religio