J.S. Narang, J. - The respondent-appellant and the petitioner-respondent got married on November 26, 1978 in pursuant to and in accordance with Sikh rites by way of performance of Anand Karaj eremony at Ludhiana. The marriage was duly consummated and from this wedlock two children were born i.e. eldest is the daughter named as Mansharan Kaur Khamba who was born on March 29, 1981 at Ludhiana and the second child, a son named as Gur Simranjit Singh Khamba, born on February 25, 1986 at Delhi. Petition for seeking dissolution of marriage by a decree of divorce had been filed by the wife i.e. petitioner-respondent on March 2, 1993. The plea taken is that she has been subjected to mental as well as physical cruelty by the husband. In respect thereof the pleadings have been set out, the said petition has been contested by the husband and a reply to the pleadings has been submitted.

2. The allegations are that immediately after the marriage, the parents of the respondent including his sisters started taunting the petitioner for not having brought a car in the dowry and that the husband wanted a slim and prettier girl and that the respondent-appellant had agreed to get married to the petitioner-respondent because of pressure put by the mother of the respondent-appellant with a hope that they would at least get a car in the dowry. It is further alleged that the petitioner-respondent had not been taken for honeymoon trip after their marriage because the husband was completely under the control of his father and that he did not have the courage to ask his father for permission to go on a holiday after marriage. It is alleged that the father of the petitioner-respondent made arrangements for their visit to Kashmir but they stayed only for a period of four days as the respondent-appellant had not taken the permission from his parents for visiting Kashmir and accordingly the couple came back to Delhi. It is further alleged that the petitioner-respondent was made to do all the household work and also treated very shabbily and that she was not allowed to make a telephone call to her relations, who were residing at Delhi, leave apart permission to visit them. It is also alleged that whenever any of her relations came to see her, they were always made uncomfortable and were made to feel unwelcomed guests. Resultantly, the petitioner-respondent was subjected to a lot of psychological pressure. On the sad occasion of death of her grandfather, she had been allowed to go to Ludhiana after great persuasion and similarly at the time of marriage of one of her cousin sisters, which was performed in the year 1980, the petitioner-respondent was allowed to attend the marriage after the parents of the petitioner-respondent had come to get her from Delhi in car. However, she had been given two sets and bangles to be worn in the aforesaid marriage, which in fact were given by her parents for wearing in the marriages. None of the relations of the respondent-appellant and or his friends ever came to attend the marriage despite the fact that they had been invited personally. The petitioner-respondent was pRegulation nt at that time and that the pRegulation ncy was of four and a half months but upon medical check up at Ludhiana, she was advised rest and was not permitted to travel and resultantly she could not go back to Delhi till the date of delivery. It is in the year 1981, marriage of the sister of the husband was to be performed and the petitioner-respondent was asked to come to Delhi by train alone as the husband had no time to fetch her from Ludhiana, the petitioner-respondent was pRegulation nt by eight months and that the doctors did not permit her to travel to Delhi, she could not attend the marriage. However, the parents of the petitioner-respondent did attend the marriage but they were treated in a very rude manner which was rather insulting. The petitioner-respondent gave birth to female child but strange enough, neither the respondent-appell