ABEYESUNDERE, J. -

In this case the respondent-appellant and the petitioner-respondent were married on 20th September, 1953, and their marriage was dissolved on 17th July, 1959, under the provisions of the Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act which came into force on 1st August, 1954.

Section 2 of that Act provides that the provisions of that Act shall not, unless otherwise expressly provided therein, apply to marriages contracted before the appointed date. The appointed date is 1st August, 1954.

Section 69 of the aforesaid Act provides that a marriage registered under the Kandyan Marriage Ordinance may be dissolved on all or any of the grounds specified in section 32 of that Act, and accordingly for that purpose and that purpose only the provisions of Part IV of that Act shall apply in like manner and to the same extent as they apply to Kandyan marriages.

The District Registrar had in this case included in the order of dissolution of the marriage the provision requiring the respondent-appellant who was the husband to pay Rs. 25 monthly as maintenance to the petitioner-respondent who was the wife. This order for maintenance appears to have been made under subsection (7) of section 33 which