RAVINDERPAL SINGH Vs. RANJIT KAUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) RAVINDER Pal Singh, the appellant herein filed a petition under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (for short "the Act") against his wife Ranjit Kaur, the present respondent for dissolution of marriage by a decree of divorce, primarily on the ground that the respondent is guilty of causing mental cruelty to him. The petition was, however, dismissed by the Additional District Judge, Amritsar by judgment and decree dated 12.2.2002. Aggrieved by the said judgment and decree, the appellant- husband has preferred the present appeal, which was admitted to regular hearing on 7.3.2002.

(2.) DURING the pendency of the appeal, it seems that on the intervention of respective members of both the families, the parties have arrived at some compromise and, therefore, the appellant filed Civil Misc. No. 10194/C.II of 2004 for disposal of the appeal on the basis of the said compromise, a copy of which was attached to the application as Annexure A/1. A joint petition under Section 13-B of the Act for dissolution of marriage by a decree of divorce by mutual consent was also placed on record.

(3.) IN view of the statements of the parties made in Court today and the compromise Annexure A-1 having been arrived at between the parties, I am satisfied that the marriage between the parties has broken down irretrievably and their matrimonial home cannot function any longer. I also find that the parties have been living separately from each other since October, 1998 and they have agreed to dissolve their marriage by a decree of divorce by mutual consent. In Smt. Chander Kanta v. Mohinder Partap Dogra, 2003(3) RCR(Civil) 72, Balwinder Singh v. Raj Rani, 2000(3) RCR(Civil) 399 (P&H) : 2001(2) Civil Court Cases 705 (P&H), Ved Parkash v. Manju, 1998(3) RCR(Civil) 44 and Suresh Chand v. Kusum alias Sushma, 1998(1) RCR(Civil) 543, it has been held that the statutory period of six months after notice for grant of decree of divorce under Section 13-B of the Act can be dispensed with if the circumstances so warrant and where consent of the parties has not been obtained by fraud, force or undue influence. It has further been held that the period of six months can be dispensed with also in cases where the parties are litigating for a considerable long time. Appeal allowed.