This reference purporting to be one under S. 17 of the Indian Divorce Act. 1869 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) reveals a curious state of affairs. A petition was made under S. 10 of the Act by the petitioner Smt. Deepika Alizabeth Couto in the court of the District Judge, Gorakhpur. The allegations in the petition were that she and her husband were married in the year 1965 according to the Christian rituals; that the respondent was a habitual drunkard who constantly beat the petitioner using filthy abuses and treated her with cruelty whenever she went to live with him at Jamshedpur. On account of this cruel treatment her physical and mental health was completely impaired and it was no longer safe for her to live with him. It appears that the respondent did not contest the petition in the court below. In support of these allegations, the petitioner examined herself. The learned District Judge passed an ex parte order dated Dec. 18, 1976 whereby he allowed the petition and a decree nisi was passed. Thereafter, the petitioner made the present application in this Court under S. 17 of the Act, praying that the decree nisi dated Dec. 18, 1976, passed by the Distric