OM PARKASH MANGAL Vs. URMIL MANGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) . Shri 0m Parkash Mangal, the husband brought a petition for dissolution of the marriage against his wife Mrs. Urmil Mangal by grant of a decree of divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the act) on the grounds of cruelty and desertion. The petition was dismissed by Shri S.C. Jain, learned additional District Judge, Delhi on 15th of December, 1977 against which the present appeal is directed.

(2.) The marriage between the parties was celeberated on 2.10.1968. The petititioner and the respondent had been living as husband and wife at No. 719/42, Chowk Mahabir, Gandhi Nagar, Delhi 31, upto 19th of July 1974 during which period two female issues have born out of the wedlock of the parties. It is unnecessary for me to refer to the allegations relating to cruelty as that ground is not pressed in the present appeal. The case of the petitioner on the ground of desertion is that the respondent has been leaving the house of the petioner from time to time and at the last she left the house of the petitioner on 20.7.1974 when the petitioner was in his office and in the absence of the petitioner, the respondent had left the house of the petitioner along with the house-hold goods, valuable articles and clothes without the prior consent and information and since then the respondent has not come back to the petitioner. The defence of the respondent is that on 20th of July 1974 the petitioner himself alongwith the respondent and the childrhifted with luggage in a tempo from the previous residence to the residence at WZ-15, Nav Yug Block, Vishnu Garden, New Delhi and that the petitioner in the morning of 4.10.1974 in routine left his residence at Vishnu Garden and did not return to his said residence thereafter. The main question which was rightly formulated by the trial court for answer is whether the respondent left the house of the petitioner for good on 20th of July 1974 by taking her luggage in atempo or that they lived together as husband and wife upto 4th of October, 1974 in house no. WZ-15 Vishnu Garden, New Delhi and on that date the husband withdraw from her society and deserted her.

(3.) The oral evidence has been discussed by the trial court in paras 11 to 15 of the judgment under appeal and the reasons for discarding the testimony of petitioner's witnesses and accepting the sworn testimony of respondents' witnesses have been given from para 16 onwards.