Consent obtained by fraud or misrepresentation as to any material fact or circumstance concerning the respondent can lead to the annulment of a marriage under Section 12(1)(c) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

1. This first appeal is directed against the judgment and decree dated 23/08/1991 passed by the matrimonial Court dismissing the petition of the husband-appellant for annulment of his marriage under Sec. 12(1)(c) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (for short the Act).

2. Parties were married on 1/03/1987 at New Delhi and before marriage they were both divorcees. A matrimonial advertisement appeared in the daily Hindustan Times on 20/07/1986 which reads as under : "Punjabi match for 25 years old, beautiful Graduate Brahmin girl, legally divorced soon after marriage. Caste no bar. Box 24609C.A." The respondent-wife admits that this advertisement was issued by her father though the case of the appellant is that it was issued by the respondent herself. This controversy need not hold us as it is not very material for deciding the present appeal. In response to the advertisement father of the appellant wrote a letter to the father of the respondent on the receipt of which the latter sent a reply on 20/08/1986 Exhibit P1 thanking the former for his letter and confirmed that the particulars of his son suited them. Father of the respondent also mentioned the particulars of his daughter (respondent herein) as under: "Name Km. Vinod Sharma Date of Birth 14-11-1960 Qualification Graduate Height 5 3" Colour Fair Personality Good looking, impressive,well-versed in household affairs." It is common case of the parties that thereafter their parents and they met each other and the parties were formally engaged on 1-11-1986. The marriage of the parties was fixed for 1/01/1987 but on the request of the father of the respondent the same was postponed and the marriage finally took place on 1/03/1987. The case of the appellant is that his marriage with the respondent was never consummated and after avoiding him for the first few days of the marriage, she went back to her parental house to look after her father who was suffering from cancer. It is not in dispute that the father of the respondent died within a month and an half from the date when the parties were married. It is further alleged by the petitioner that the respondent did not come back to the matrimonial home for quite some time and she last resided with him for a few days at Hajipur in the District of Hoshiarpur. The petitioner has also alleged that a fraud was practised on him inasmuch as his consent to the marriage was obtained by misrepresentation. It is stated that in the matrimonial advertisement which brought the parties together it was specifically mentioned that the respondent was a graduate and legally divorced soon after her first marriage when in fact she was not and nor was she a graduate. It is also alleged that the petitioner was given to understand that the respondent was a virgin and it was for this reason that she was described as Km. Vinod Sharma in the letter dated 20/08/1986 (Exhibit P1) allegedly written by the father of the respondent to the father of the petitioner. The petitioner further averred that it was some time in the middle of June, 1988 that he discovered that his consent for marriage had been obtained fraudulently when he learnt about the decree of divorce obtained by the respondent on 2/01/1987.

3. On these allegations and some others which are not necessary to be mentioned for the purposes of disposing of the present appeal, the petitioner moved the matrimonial Court under Sec. 12(1)(c) of the Act for the annulment of his marriage.

4. The respondent controverted the allegations made by the appellant. Her case in the written statement was that the appellant had voluntarily and with his free will married the respondent on 1/03/1987 knowing that she had obtained a decree of divorce from her previous husband on 2-1-1987 and that no fraud was committed as alleged. The other allegations levelled by the appellant have also been denied and it is stated that after her marriage the appellant and his family members used to mal-treat her on the ground that she