The main legal point established in the judgment is that the conduct of one spouse, including filing false complaints and causing mental and physical cruelty to the other spouse, can be grounds for divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

JUDGMENT

Nidhi Gupta, J. - By this order we shall dispose of two Appeals, being FAO-M-190 of 2010, and FAO 3554 of 2016 - as the fundamental factual matrix of both cases is identical.

FAO - M 190 of 2010:

2. This appeal has been filed by the appellant-husband against the order dated 21.4.2010 passed by the learned Additional District Judge, Hoshiarpur, whereby his petition under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (hereinafter 'the Act'), for grant of divorce on the ground of cruelty and desertion on part of the respondent, has been dismissed.

3. Brief facts of the case are that the appellant and the respondent were married as per Sikh rites and rituals on 03.03.2004, at Nakodar. Out of this wedlock, one son, namely, Navjot was born on 02.12.2004 at the house of the parents of the respondent-wife, where she had been residing since September 2004.

4. It is the case of the appellant that he is handicapped and afflicted by Polio since childhood. At the time of his marriage with the respondent, she and her parents had told the appellant that the respondent was 28-29 years old and had been married earlier but as her first husband was an alcoholic and used to beat her, they had divorced each other under Section 13-B of the Act by mutual consent.

5. It was only subsequently that the appellant found out that the actual age of the respondent was not 28/29 years but was about 38 years, and that she had also had a child with her first husband who had died.

6. It is further stated that only after about 8-10 days of the marriage, the respondent started insulting the appellant and mocking him publicly for his physical disability and used to tauntingly called him lulalangra in front of his family and friends. This behavior of the respondent caused so much trauma to the appellant that he stopped calling his friends and relatives to his house. It is further stated that as a result of bad behavior on the part of the respondent, the appellant's parents even disinherited him from their property and also told him to live separately.

7. The notice of disinheritance was published in the newspaper 'Nawan Zamana' Jalandhar on 17.06.2004. The appellant has further stated that even despite the separation, the behavior of the respondent did not improve. The respondent continually taunted the appellant regarding his virility, and even used to snatch his crutches and physically throw the appellant on the ground in the presence of his friends and relatives. As such, the appellant was undergoing tremendous mental agony and trauma, as well as physical abuse at the hands of the respondent. It is also alleged and pleaded in the petition that on 15.9.2004, the respondent threatened to kill the appellant. Even her brother threatened the appellant on the telephone that he is handicapped and they (the respondent and her brother) will kill him and his parents and inherit all their property. The appellant then lodged a complaint with the Sarpanch, and a Panchayat was called.

8. Even in the Panchayat, the respondent openly said that she did not want to live with the appellant as he is not capable of being a husband and also raised false allegations against him, and abused and insulted the parents of the appellant. At the intervention of the Panchayat, the appellant took the respondent to her village Ramuwal on 22.09.2004.

9. However, while leaving, the respondent cleverly and secretly took all the gold ornaments and cash lying in the house without telling the appellant, and since then the respondent had been living at her parental house. All efforts on part of the appellant to bring her back to the matrimonial home had failed. Accordingly, the appellant stated, the respondent had treated him with cruelty, and also deserted him without reasonable cause or excuse. As such, he was left with no alternative but to file the petition under Section 13 of the Act on 9.6.2005/2008.

10. In response, the respondent, in her written reply, admitted to the marriage as well as birth of t