SHANTHI Vs. V VIJAYARAGHAVAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The respondent/wife before the Family Court is the appellant herein. The husband filed a petition under Section 12(1)(b) and (c) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 to declare the marriage between the appellant and the respondent as a nullity. The petition was allowed by the Family Court, Madurai and the appeal is against this judgment and decree.

(2.) The facts of the case are as follows : The parties were related. The husband is the uncle's son of the wife's father and they were living in Madurai Town. The husband is employed in the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board. The wife is a graduate. The marriage between the parties was solemnized on 30.8.1991 as per their caste custom and usage. The marriage was preceded by the ceremony of 'seeing' the girl for the approval of the marriage in the beginning of August 1991. Thereafter, the marriage was fixed and celebrated on 30.8.1991. According to the husband, the marriage could not be consummated because the wife did not co-operate and he had discovered from her conduct that she, after her graduation had become a lunatic or of unsound mind and that such mental derangement existed during and prior to the marriage and that she was unfit for marriage and for procreation of children. He alleges that if the real nature and mental condition of the girl had been informed to him earlier he would not have agreed to marry her. She was given treatment and thereafter, she was left in the husband's house. On one occasion, while the husband was in his office and his parents were sleeping, she had poured kerosene on her body and set herself fire, as a result of which she suffered 40% burn injuries. In the above circumstances, he had to file the application for annulling the marriage.

(3.) On behalf of the wife, a counter was filed by her father, opposing the averments made in reference to her mental condition, denying them as false. According to her, she had graduated in B.A. Economics in first class in the year 1989. She had won several awards during her course of study. Even in June 1991, the husband and his parents visited their family and only after having been satisfied fully, they have agreed for the marriage. The husband is not a stranger to her family and he knew the nature of the wife even before the marriage that she was hale and healthy and therefore, he agreed for the marriage. She states that the allegation that there was no consummation of the marriage has been created by the husband for the case with an ulterior purpose and that the allegation that the wife had become a lunatic after the marriage is false. There was no treatment before the marriage and she denied all the allegations made in the petition as false and invented for the purpose of the case. The wife was taken to the doctor only at the instance of the husband and he was satisfied on the advice of the doctor that the respondent was normal. There was no deception played on the husband, and on the contrary, the husband and their family were fully satisfied after the enquiry and then only they consented for the marriage. The husband was not induced to marry the respondent and the allegations were not true. She had suffered burn injuries because of an accident and the husband himself has given a statement before the police that the accident took place due to the bursting of gas stove at the time of cooking and also that there was no necessity for the wife to pour kerosene and burn herself. The counter further says that the wife became pregnant after the marriage, but the said fact was suppressed by the husband.