1914 Present: Wood Renton A. C. J. and De Sampayo A. J.

RABIA UMMA v. SAIBU.

71-D. C. Kandy, 3, 019.

Muhammadan law-Right of wife to divorce husband on the ground of desertion-Expert evidence,

The Shafei law, which is applicable to Moormen in this Colony, recognizes the right of a wife in certain circumstances to divorce her husband on the ground of desertion.

The case was sent back to ascertain how far, if at all, and subject to what conditions, that right has been admitted as a matter of custom in Ceylon.

APPEAL from a judgment of the District Judge of Kandy (P. E. Pieris, Esq. ). The facts appear from the judgment of Wood Renton A. C. J.

Hayley, for the intervenient, appellant. -The appellant, prior to her marriage with Ossen Saibu Mohamadu, had dissolved her marriage with Ahamadu Lebbe, and is therefore the legal wife of Ossen Saibu. Husband's inability to maintain or desertion is a good ground for divorce under the Muhammadan law. The wife may divorce the husband for desertion without the intervention of Court. Counsel cited Amir Ali's Muhammadan Law, vol. II., p. 25; Tyabji's Principles of Muhammadan Law 168; Muhammadan Code of 1806,