IMPORTANT POINT
A dead marriage must be given a decent quietus.

S.K.Sahoo, J.—“Every healthy marriage is composed of walls and windows. The windows are the aspects of your relationship that are open to the world- that is, the necessary gaps through which you interact with family and friends; the walls are the barriers of trust behind which you guard the most intimate secrets of your marriage.”

- Elizabeth Gilbert

This case presents an atypical example of unhealthy marriage in which walls and windows were shattered to pieces, high expectations crumbled leading to disappointment and then started blame-game. Ray of hope perished. Destiny carried the couple in different directions and then they crossed the turning point of no return.

An appeal has been filed by the appellant-wife Nirupama Mohapatra under Section 19(1) of the Family Courts Act, 1984 challenging the impugned judgment and order dated 30.07.2013 and decree dated 05.08.2013 of the learned Judge, Family Court, Puri passed in Civil Proceeding No. 69 of 2010 in allowing the petition under section 9 of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 filed by the respondent-husband Sabyasachi Mohapatra with a prayer for restitution of conjugal right and alternatively for dissolution of marriage, if restitution of conjugal right is not substantiated.

2. The case of the respondent-husband borne out from the plaint is that he is the only son of his parents and his marriage was solemnised on 13.12.2006 with the appellant-wife as per caste and custom prevailing in Brahmin community without any demand of dowry. Though both of them lead a happy conjugal life for few days but thereafter the appellant-wife persistently pressurised the respondent-husband to live separately from the joint family. The respondent-husband tried his level best to change the mind of the appellant-wife but she being misguided by her parents started misbehaving to the elder members of her in-laws family and almost turned the happy home of the respondent-husband into a pandemonium house. It is the further case of the respondent-husband that he took the appellant-wife to his service place for a change of her mind along with his parents who were ailing. The appellant-wife expressed her displeasure regarding stay of her ailing parents-in-laws in her company for which the situation became very tense and it lead to untold miseries, plight and sorrow feeling for the appellant-husband. On 9.3.2007 the married sister and brother of appellant-wife reached at the service place of the respondent-husband and in absence of the respondent-husband, they abused his ailing parents and on the very next day the appellant-wife was taken to her paternal house situated at Puri. The respondent-husband brought the appellant-wife back to his service place on 10.4.2007 where she was treated in Hinjilikatu Government Hospital and then she was taken to Berhampur Medical College on 15.4.2007 as she was found to be pregnant. The respondent-husband was very much happy coming to know about the pregnancy of the appellant-wife but surprisingly the appellant-wife insisted to terminate her pregnancy as her beauty would be damaged by giving birth to a child. The appellant-wife did not attend her father-in-law when he was hospitalised and ultimately she withdrew herself from the society of her husband and left with all her belongings including gold ornaments. The respondent-husband wrote two letters to the Odisha State Commission for Women expressing his discontentment but the appellant-wife stoutly denied joining with the society of her husband.

Finding no way out, the respondent-husband filed a suit for restitution of conjugal rights with alternative prayer to dissolve the marriage between the parties in the Court of learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Puri in MAT Case No.432 of 2007 which was transferred to Judge, Family Court, Puri and it was registered as Civil Proceeding No.69 of 2010.

3. The appellant-wife on being noticed appeared in the case and filed her written statement denying the averments made in the plain