P.U.MOHAMMED BASHEER Vs. N.P.SULAIKHA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant is the husband of the original petitioner, who filed O.P.No.297/2004 before the Family Court, Ernakulam and obtained a decree of declaration of marital status. The declaration sought was that the petitioner therein is the legally wedded wife of the respondent/appellant and that the marriage between them is still subsisting. The parties are hereinafter referred to as per the status in the Original Petition.

(2.) The respondent is aggrieved by the aforesaid impugned order dated 12.07.2006 and hence is in appeal before us.

(3.) The facts can be encapsulated as thus: The petitioner got married to the respondent according to Islamic rites on 25.01.1976 and begot three children in the wedlock. Their marital relationship ran into rough weather and as a result of which, the respondent allegedly ignored the petitioner and their children and got involved in an illicit relationship with a woman named Niza. The petitioner would claim that the marriage between the petitioner and the respondent still subsists and there was no legal divorce or talaq.