(1.) This is an unusual case calling for an unusual solution. The husband sued for divorce on the ground that the wife is guilty of adulterous course of life. The wife not only denied the allegation -she attributed the allegation to lack of mental equilibrium of the husband. The husband then amended his petition; he alleged a new ground for divorce viz., mental cruelty. According to him, the allegations made in the written statement per se constitute cruelty which entitled him straightway to a divorce without going into the original allegation of adultery. He is also relying upon certain questions put to him in cross-examination by the counsel for the respondent and the said counsel's explanatory statement made in that connection. We may elaborate.
(2.) The petitioner-applicant, Shri V. Bhagat is an Advocate practising in this Court and Delhi High Court. He is now aged about 55 years. The respondent-wife is working at present as the Vice-President of I.T.D.C.. a Public Sector Corporation. She is aged about 50 years. They were married in the year 1966. They have two grown-up children now - a son and a daughter. The son is a doctor while the daughter holds a degree in M.B.A. and is working with an American Company in California.
(3.) The respondent was working in a Television Company at the time of her marriage. After the birth of a child she left the job in August, 1967. The respondent started working again from the year, 1972 onwards. To start with she was employed in a Travel Agency. Somewhere around 1978-79, the petitioner began suspecting her of infidelity. According to him, when he questioned the respondent of her adulterous behaviour, she admitted the same and asked to be pardoned. The wife denies this, She says, she never made any such admission and that the allegation is a totally false one. From 1980 onwards the petitioner was making attempts to obtain a divorce by consent. The respondent was not willing. On May 28, 1985, he instituted the present petition for divorce in the District Court, Delhi. The divorce petition runs into more than 160 paragraphs. The main ground is adultery. According to husband, the wife is an incorrigible adulteress. The respondent filed the written statement denying the allegations. The written statement, if anything, is even lengthier and more voluminous than the divorce petition. She has denied the allegation in toto. According to her, the husband is like Othello a pathologically suspicious character.