DHARMENDRA KUMAR SAHU Vs. SMT. GEETANJALI SAHU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant - husband has assailed the legality and validity of the impugned judgment whereby the family court has dismissed the suit for grant of divorce under section 13 (1) (i) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (for short 'the Act') on the ground that after the marriage the respondent has been living in adulterous relation with one Raghavnandan Sahu.

(2.) The parties were married at village Potiyadih, Police Station Arjuni, District Dhamtari on 07-05-2011. After the Gauna ceremony, the wife was brought to her matrimonial house where she stayed for few days but according to the husband she immediately insisted for going back to her parental house/village and in that process she created ruckus in the house and even threatened to commit suicide. After two days, she again insisted for going back to her parental house and retired to bed in a separate room with her paternal grandmother. The husband also alleged that the marriage has not consummated.

(3.) The appellant/husband has further averred that when he was taking his wife to village Dhamtari on a motorcycle, one boy intercepted them near village Potiyadih and introduced himself as Raghavnandan Sahu. He informed that he and the respondent/wife were in love for about 2 - 3 years prior to the marriage and they still love each other. The defendant/wife informed the husband that she was already married with Raghavnandan in a temple and her present marriage is out of compulsion due to pressure by the relatives because her nonmarriage would have created problem for the marriage of her elder brother. It is also averred that after the marriage, the respondent/wife appeared in an examination from Dhamtari College in June, 2011 where Raghavnandan met them and insisted that they should obtain divorce because the respondent Geetanjali is his love. It is specifically pleaded in the application for grant of divorce that Raghavnandan informed the appellant/husband that he and Geetanjali had visited Gangrel Dam on 07-06-2011 and there they developed physical relation with each other. He also said that thereafter the respondent was carrying pregnancy which was aborted.