PRITMA SHARMA Vs. MOHINDER S BHARDWAJ

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The parties were married at Delhi on 24th. February, 1976; At that time the wife was employed as Assistant Scientist, Department of Botany, College of Basic Sciences, Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar and the husband was doing business at Delhi, according to the wife; where as according to the husband he was, working et Kanpur and on insistence of his wife, he started ;doing business in Delhi from 1978 onwards. Out of the wed-tock on 3rd June., 1979 a female child. was born.. On 16th September, 1982, the wife presented. a petition for dissolution of marriage District Court at Hissar, primarily on till ground of cruelty. The husband contested the petition and in his written statement took. a preliminary objection; that Hissar Court had so jurisdiction to try the petition as neither the marriage was solemnized at Hissar nor she resided there at the time of presentation of petition nor the parties last resided together at Hissar. In the divorce petition, the wife had pleaded in paras 11 and 15 as follows.

(2.) On the pleadings of the parties, the learned Additional District Judge, framed the following preliminary issue:

(3.) A reading of the aforesaid issue would show that the jurisdiction of the Court had to be found out on the assumption that the allegations contained in paras 11 and 15 of the petition am correct. Accordingly no evidence was to be led on the preliminary issue. The trial Court by order dated 31st January, 1983, came to the conclusion on the basis of judgment reported as Dr. Ashok Ranjan Saxena v. Smt. Vishwa Bharti, AIR 1978 All 18, that the stay of the husband with his wife at Hissar on 5th September, 1982 cannot be held to mean 'last resided together' and, therefore, the Hissar Court bad no jurisdiction to try the petition. Consequently it was ordered that the petition be returned for presentation to the Court of competent jurisdiction.