IMPORTANT POINT
The judgment establishes that once a marriage has irretrievably broken down, attempts to force the parties to live together would amount to mental cruelty, and divorce should not be withheld in such cases.

JUDGMENT

M.G.PRIYADARSINI, J. - Assailing the judgment rendered by the Principal Judge, Family Court-cum-Additional Chief Judge, City Civil Court at Hyderabad, dtd. 29/12/2021 in O.P. No.1283 of 2016, the present appeal is preferred by the wife, who is respondent therein.

2. By the impugned order, the Family Court allowed the O.P. filed by the husband, respondent herein, under Sec. 13(1)(ia)(ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act granting decree of divorce by dissolving the marriage subsisting between the appellant and respondent dtd. 16/8/1998.

3. For the sake of convenience, hereinafter, the parties will be referred to by their matrimonial status i.e., the appellant as 'wife' and the respondent as 'husband'.

4. The facts that are necessary for disposal of the present appeal are that the marriage of respondent-husband with the appellant-wife took place on 16/8/1998 at Andhra Youth Mandal, Barkatpura, Hyderabad, as per Hindu rites and customs. Right from the marriage, the wife did not behave properly with the in- laws as well as husband. As they are living in a joint family, the wife started demanding the husband to set up separate family and when the husband refused to set up separate family, she intensified the harassment. She expressed her inability to enjoy the conjugal life and that she is not interested in sexual life owing to her health conditions. When the matter was placed before elders, wife agreed to cooperate with the husband to conceive through IVF procedure. On 5/10/2006 a male child was born to the wife through IVF procedure. However, wife left the company of the husband without his consent in January, 2011, for which, her parents lodged a missing complaint and after two days, she reached the house of her parents. Later, at the instance of the wife, a case was registered against the husband and his parents with the Women Police Station. Though the husband set up a separate family in a rented premises, there was no change in the behavior of the wife. In September, 2011, in spite of having knowledge that her mother-in-law was hospitalized due to brain stroke and was in critical condition, the wife did not turn up and visited the hospital. Though the husband continued to live with the wife in a rented premises, there was no change in her attitude. Finally, the wife left the company of the husband in July, 2014 and since then she did not join the matrimonial home. When the husband filed a case seeking dissolution of marriage in O.P. No. 1909 of 2014 before the Family Court at L.B. Nagar, the wife requested him to withdraw the same expressing her willingness to join his company and when he withdrew the said O.P. in February, 2015, again she left the company of husband and started to reside at her relative's house by doing private job. In a panchayat held before the caste elders at Moosarambagh in July, 2014, the wife abused the husband and his parents and that no progress took place in that panchayat. Hence, the O.P. by the husband.

5. The wife contested the O.P. by filing counter denying the averments made in the O.P. It is alleged that soon after the marriage, the husband started demanding additional dowry to set up a business, for which, her brother arranged Rs.12.00 lakhs and another amount of Rs.15.00 lakhs on different occasions. When her brother requested for return of the said amount, the husband started quarreling and blaming the wife. Right from the marriage, the husband and his parents used to harass and abuse her without there being any reason. On the ground that she did not conceive, her in-laws continued to harass her. On 3/7/2003, when she was taken to IIRC Infertility centre at Secunderabad, the doctor opined that the couple has to go for IVF treatment on the ground of medical complication in both the parties. The husband and her in-laws demanded her parents to incur all the expenses for the IVF treatment. Eventually, she gave birth to a male child. In 2006, the husband and his parents forced her to get money f