NARAYAN MUKHERJEE Vs. KRISHNA DAY MUKHERJEE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Court : The husband/petitioner filled Matrimonial Suit No.47 of 1992 in the 4th Court of the learned Additional District Judge at Alipore, South, 24-Parganas, against the wife/caveator/opposite party for a decree for divorce on the ground of cruelty and the same was decreed ex-pane on 19th January, 1993.

(2.) Subsequently, the wife/caveator/opposite party filed an application under Order IX Rule 13 read with section 151 of the Code of Civil procedure together with an application under section 5 of the Limitation Act for setting aside the aforesaid ex-parle decreed on condonation of delay, alleging inter alia, that no summons of the suit was served upon her and the ex-parte decree was obtained by the husband/petitioner by suppression of summons and by forging the signatures of the wife/caveator/opposite party on the service return of summons and also on the acknowledgement card and she had no previous knowledge of the suit prior to 29th1 April. 1993 and 30th April, 1993, and the same gave rise to Misc. Case No.7 of 1993.

(3.) In the said Misc. Case, the wife/opposite party filed an application for appointment of a handwriting expert for comparing and/or examining the alleged signatures of the wife/opposite party on the service return of summons and on the acknowledgement card, with her admitted signatures appearing on the vakalatnama and the application under Order IX Rule 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure or with any of her admitted signatures. The said application was opposed by the husband/petitioner by filling written objection alleging inter alia, that summons of the suit were duly served upon the wife and instead of appointing a handwriting expert, the court could itself compare the signature appearing on the acknowledgement card and the service return of summons with the admitted signatures of the wife/opposite party, under section 73 of the Indian Evidence Act. During cross examination of the wife, as per the request of the learned Advocate of the husband/petitioner, the wife's signatures were taken both in Bengali and in English in open Court for the purpose of comparing with the alleged signatures of the wife appearing on the acknowledgement card and the service return of the summons.