( 1 ) THIS matter comes up before us under Section 17 of the Divorce Act, 1869, for confirmation of the decree nisi for divorce granted in favour of the petitioner, Paster J. S. Singh and against his wife Smt. Jyotsana Singh (respondent No. 1) by the District Judge, Jabalpur, on 7-3-1981.

( 2 ) BEFORE the District Judge, the petitioner filed a suit under Section 10 of the Di- vorce Act seeking dissolution of his marriage with respondent No. 1, Smt. Jyotsana Singh. The marriage between them was performed on 27-12-1972 in the Methodist Church, Khursipar Baihar, district Balaghat. As a result of this marriage, they have three children. They lived peacefully up to the year 1976. Both of them are teachers. While respondent No. 1 continued serving at Baihar, the petitioner was transferred to Jabalpur and then to Narsimhapur for about a month and again retransferred to Jabalpur. As a result of the transfer, the petitioner resided at Jabalpur, while his wife, respondent No. 1 continued to live at Baihar up to December 1976 when she was transferred to Kaipur. The petitioner's case is that when he resided at Jabalpur, the respondent No. 1 would often visit him during the holida