D. M. DHARMADHIKARI, J.

( 1 ) THIS is an appeal by the wife/respondent under S. 28 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'), against the decree dated 5-5-89 passed by the Court of Second Additional Judge to the Court of District Judge, Raipur, declaring her marriage with the respondent/wife as nullity under S. 12 (1) (b) and (c) of the Act. By the judgment and decree under appeal, the trial Court accepted the case of the husband/plaintiff that the wife was suffering from the mental disorder of the type 'schizophrenia' at the time of their marriage.

( 2 ) THE facts not in dispute are that the parties were married on 22-5-1986. They lived together immediately after the marriage between 23-5-1986 and 4-6-1986 for about 12 days in the first instance. Thereafter the wife had gone back to her parents for a few days and they again in the second period lived together between 13-7-86 and 20-7-86 for about seven days. The total stay of the wife with the husband was thus nineteen days. The petition under S. 12 of the Act for declaring the marriage as nullity was filed by the husband within one year of the marriage i. e. on 1-9-1986. It may be mentioned that the petition for grant of a decree of nullity of a voidable marriage can be filed only within one year from the date of the marriage and not thereafter under S. 12 (a) (i) and (ii) of the Act. Petition for divorce on the ground of mental disorder under S. 13 (1) (iii) of the Act, cannot be filed within one year, but can be filed only after one year of the marriage in accordance with S. 14 (1) of the Act.

( 3 ) THE case of the husband as pleaded in the petition and sought to be proved by evidence in support thereof was that soon after the marriage, that is, on honey-moon night itself, he discovered that the wife was abnormal and erratic in behaviour. She refused sexual intercourse on the very first night and showed all signs of a person not mentally sound. It was also stated that during her second visit, on one occasion she became extermely uncontrollable and violent so much so that a psychiatrist had to be called to examine her who confirmed that the wife was a mental case of schizophrenia and she had been under his treatment since before her marriage.

( 4 ) THE wife denied all the allegations made against her of abnormal behaviour and that she had ever suffered from any mental disorder called 'schizophrenia'.

( 5 ) THE trial Court found the testimony of the husband examined as P. W. 1, supported by the testimony of his mother Smt. Shanta Sharma (P. W. 2), his brother Dr. S. K. Sharma (P. W. 3) and Dr. P. N. Shukla, Psychiatrist (P. W. 4) as worthy of acceptance and granted the decree declaring the marriage as nullity.

( 6 ) IN this appeal by the wife, before discussion of evidence on record, let me clear the legal ground in the light of rival submissions made by the counsel for the parties, on the proper interpretation of the provisions of the Act. ( 7 ) SECTION 12 of the Act is a provision in respect of voidable marriage and contains grounds on which a marriage can be annulled by a decree of nullity at the instance of either of the parties to the marriage. S. 12 (1) (b) and (c) of the Act, which has been pressed into service by the husband for claiming a decree of nullity of their marriage, is in the following terms :-"12. (1) Voidable marriage.- any marriage solemnised, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be voidable and may be annulled by a decree of nullity on any of the following grounds: - (a) that. . . . . (b) that the marriage is in contravention of the conditions specified in Cl. (ii) of S. 5; or (c) that the consent of the petitioner, or where the consent of the guardian in marriage of the petitioner was required under S. 5 as it stood immediately before the commencement of the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1978, the consent of such guardian was obtained by force or by fraud as to the nature of the ceremony or

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