NARASIMHAM, J.

( 1 ) THIS is a defendant's appeal against the appellate judgment of the Subordinate judge of Cuttack Dhenkanal reversing the judgment of the Munsif of Athmallik and decreeing the plaintiff's (respondent's) suit for maintenance against her husband, the defendant. The parties are Hindus residing in Athmallik which, is one of the former Orissa States which merged with the Dominion of India by the well-known merger Agreement which came into force from 1-1-1948. The plaintiff alleged that she is the legally married wife of the defendant and that a daugther was born to them. Later on, however, the defendant took a second wife, ill-treated the plaintiff by giving her shoe-beating and by other kinds of assault and eventually drove her out of his residence. The exact date of the second marriage of the defendant was not given but it was said to have taken place about sixteen years before the date of the filing of the plaint (23-9-1946 ). The main defence, taken was that the defendant was compelled to take a second wife as the plaintiff did not give him a son. The allegations of ill-treatment were emphatically denied and it was further stated that the plaintiff of her own acc