PUSHPA BAI Vs. KAMAL KUMAR JAIN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is the wife's appeal against the trial Court's judgment and decree whereby the husband's claim for divorce was allowed. Parties were admittedly married according to Hindu rites and customs in Dec., 1974 't is also not in dispute that since about April, 1977, the wife is living at her parental house.

(2.) The husband had rested his claim for divorce initially on the ground of desertion by the wife covered under Sec. 13(l)(ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, on the premise that the wife had left his house on 3-4-1977 and had not returned to him for a continuous period of not less than two years, immediately preceding the date 10-3-1981 when the petition for divorce had been presented by him in Court. The second ground for divorce subsequently taken by him by amendment of his petition dated 29.6.1983 was the one under Sec. 13(I)(i-a) ibid i.e cruelty meted out to the husband by the wife. It was alleged in this connection that the wife used to force the husband to live separately from the parents and also used to quarrel with him and misbehave with his parents. The husband, thus, claimed to be subjected to cruelty,-both physically and mentally at the hands of his wife

(3.) The wife; vide her written statement, vehemently opposed the claim for divorce on both the alleged grounds. As for desertion, it was con- tended that while she and her husband were living together in a separate tenanted house, the husband had deserted her to live with his own parents and had himself, thus, deserted her. In this context, it was pleaded that the wife in these circumstances, had to take another small house on rent since she was not able to pay the higher rent of the particular tenanted house where she and her husband were formerly living. After some time, the wife claimed to have gone away to her mother's place at Pindrai. In the same connection, it was also asserted that the wife w is always ready and willing to live with her husband and when her own proceedings under Sec. 125 of the Code were pending in the Curt of Magistrate, the husband had come to take her at Pindrai and the wife too had left her house in his company for going with him but on reaching the Railway Station Pindrai, the husband had left her company on some pretext and then, he was not to be found even after the train had left the station. Thus, she was forsaken by the husband himself despite her willingness to live with him. The allegation regarding cruelty was vehemently denied by her.