The main legal point established in the judgment is that the behavior amounting to cruelty and desertion can lead to the dissolution of marriage under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

JUDGMENT

Manjari Nehru Kaul, J. - The instant appeal has been preferred by the appellant-wife against the impugned judgment and decree dated 21.04.2015, passed by the Ld. Addl. District Judge, Patiala (hereinafter referred to as 'the Ld. Court below'), whereby, the petition filed by the respondent-husband under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') was allowed and her marriage with the respondent-husband/Labh Singh was ordered to be dissolved by way of decree of divorce with immediate effect.

2. A few facts necessary for adjudication of the case, as narrated in the petition filed by the respondent-husband before the Ld. Court below, may be noticed. Marriage between the parties was solemnized on 19th February, 1999, at Village Banga, Distt. Sangrur as per Hindu rites and ceremonies. It was stated to be a simple marriage in which no dowry articles were given by the parents of the appellant-wife except for certain articles which could be used in the kitchen. After the marriage, the parties lived together and cohabited as husband & wife. Two children were born out of their wedlock, who are residing with the respondent-husband. It was averred in the petition that the appellant-wife, right from the date of their marriage indulged in cruel behaviour to the extent of using abusive and foul language, not only against him but also his family. The respondent-husband silently tolerated her rude behaviour hoping that the same would change with time, but her behaviour did not improve even after the birth of their children. Many a times, the appellant-wife threatened the respondent-husband and his family of implicating them in criminal cases. The respondent-husband sought the intervention of the appellant-wife's parents and family, but in vain. It was averred in the petition that the appellant-wife severed all her conjugal relations with the respondent-husband in the year 2005 and in the month of April, 2006, she left the company of the respondent-husband without any sufficient cause, leaving behind her children with him. While going away from the matrimonial house in the year 2006, she took along all her personal belongings including the gold jewellery and clothes. Ever since then, she had been residing at her parental house. After the appellant-wife left the company of the respondent-husband, he made efforts with the help of respectables and Panchayat Members to bring the appellant-wife back to the matrimonial home, but the same proved to be unsuccessful.

3. On the contrary, in the written statement filed by the appellant-wife (respondent therein), she refuted and denied the averments made in the petition by the respondent-husband. She, rather, pleaded that her children had been forcibly retained by the appellant-husband, who was a drunkard and addicted to intoxicants. He would mercilessly beat her up and would not even spare their children. She denied severing conjugal relations with the respondent-husband since the year 2005 as well as leaving the company of the respondent-husband without any sufficient cause in the month of April, 2006.

4. On such pleadings of the parties, the following issues were framed by the Ld. Court below:-

"1. Whether the respondent has treated the petitioner with cruelty Rs. OPP

2. Whether the respondent has deserted the petitioner since April 2006 without any reasonable ground Rs. OPP

3. Whether the petition is not maintainable Rs. OPR

4. Whether the petitioner has no cause of action to file the present petition Rs. OPT

5. Relief"

5. In order to prove his case, the respondent-husband himself stepped into the witness-box as PW-1 and examined his neighbour - Lakhwinder Singh as PW-2. On the other hand, the appellant-wife stepped into the witness-box as RW-1 and examined her father - Banarsi Dass as RW-2. She closed her evidence by tendering copy of the petition under Section 125 Cr.P.C. as Ex.RWl/A and copy of the complaint under Sections 406, 498-A and 506 IPC as Ex.RWl/B. Ld. C