The court emphasized the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage as a ground for divorce and considered the husband's income and the needs of the parties in awarding permanent alimony.

JUDGMENT

S.K. Sahoo, J.

1. Civil Appeal No. 17 of 1999 has been filed by the appellant-wife Ranjana Rani Panda (hereafter 'the appellant-wife') challenging the impugned judgment and order dated 27.04.1999 passed by the learned Judge, Family Court, Rourkela in Civil Proceeding No. 75 of 1998 in allowing the petition under section 13 (1)(i-a) and (i-b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 filed by respondent-husband Sanjay Kumar Panda (hereafter 'the respondent-husband') and directing the marriage solemnized between the parties on 16.01.1996 to be dissolved by a decree of divorce.

RPFAM No. 153 of 2014 has been filed by the respondent-husband challenging the impugned judgment and order dated 11.07.2014 passed by the learned Judge, Family Court, Rourkela in Criminal Proceeding No. 85 of 2012 in allowing the petition under section 127 Cr.P.C. filed by the appellant-wife and her daughter Pinkey Panda and directing enhancement of monthly maintenance allowance to Rs. 5000/- and Rs. 4000/- respectively which included housing to be paid by the respondent-husband from September 2012.

Since both the cases arise out of matrimonial dispute, with the consent of the parties, the cases were heard analogously and the same are being disposed of by this common judgment.

2. The respondent-husband instituted a Divorce Proceeding against the appellant-wife stating therein that the marriage between the parties was solemnized on 16.01.1996 in Sector-9, P.S.-Sector-7, Rourkela in accordance with Hindu rites and customs. After the marriage, the parties lead their conjugal life for about three months in the house of the respondent-husband. Thereafter, the appellant-wife started creating disturbance in the marital life, neglected her domestic duties for which most of the time the respondent-husband used to go to attend his duties in Rourkela Steel Plant without food. The appellant-wife was using insulting language towards her mother-in-law and other in-laws family members without any reasonable cause. It is the further case of the respondent-husband that the appellant-wife started pressuring him to live separately but he expressed his unwillingness since he was the eldest son of the family. The appellant-wife threatened to commit suicide and in spite of the intervention of the family members and well wishers, she did not mend her behaviour and treated the respondent-husband with cruelty.

It is the further case of the respondent-husband that on 17.07.1996 the appellant-wife complained of pain in her abdomen for which she was taken to I.G.H., Rourkela for medical treatment but after her medical check up, she insisted to go to her elder sister's house who was also staying at Rourkela and when the respondent-husband took her there, she became violent and refused to return back to her in-laws house. The respondent-husband wrote several letters to the appellant-wife to return back but when no fruitful result came, he instituted a petition under section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act read with section 7 of the Family Courts Act bearing Civil Proceeding No. 129 of 1996 before the Judge, Family Court, Rourkela which was allowed vide judgment and order dated 23.07.1997 and the appellant-wife was directed to restitute the conjugal life with the respondent-husband within two months from the date of judgment. In the meantime, the appellant-wife was blessed with a daughter. The appellant-wife did not turn up back to her matrimonial house even though the respondent-husband tried his level best. It is the case of respondent-husband that the appellant-wife made his life miserable by subjecting him to cruelty.

3. The divorce petition was filed on 30.07.1998. Notice was issued to the appellant-wife who entered her appearance.

The appellant-wife filed her written statement denying the allegations levelled against her rather it is her case that after seven days of marriage, her husband started ill-treatment and subjected her to cruelty and demanded Rs. 50,000/- towards dowry. As the appella