SUKHWINDER SINGH Vs. KAMALJIT KAUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal preferred by husband Sukhwinder Singh aggrieved by the dismissal of the petition filed under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 praying for dissolution of marriage by passing a decree of divorce.

(2.) It is the contention of the appellant/petitioner that he solemnised marriage with the respondent Kamaljit Kaur on 11.10.1998 at Mohali as per Sikh rites and ceremonies. The first child born out of the wedlock expired. Now the couple were blessed with two children out of the wedlock. The petitioner has alleged that the respondent is quarrel some. She is also deaf and as a result of which she has made the life of the petitioner a burning hell. She is unable to cook or to do any domestic work. Whenever the respondent was asked to do the same, she raised hue and cry and used to call her parents, who treated the petitioner in a rude and cruel manner. The petitioner himself has been cooking food and washing clothes. On the day of Diwali (10.11.2007) the petitioner's parents and brothers came along with their maternal uncles and talked to the younger brother of the petitioner and gave merciless beatings to him during the absence of the petitioner. The respondent always threatened to commit suicide and to involve all the members of the family of the petitioner in a false criminal case. She also made an attempt to commit suicide by taking poison. Luckily, she was saved by the doctors. The respondent used to leave the house of the petitioner without his consent. The respondent even manhandled the petitioner several times. The respondent who left the matrimonial house on the next day of Diwali in the year 2007 never turned up. Therefore, the petitioner has sought the relief of decree of divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion.

(3.) The respondent resisted the plea for divorce made by the petitioner on the ground that the petitioner had not approached the Court with clean hands. He started demanding a sum of Rs. 1 lakh from her parents. The petitioner and her family members started misbehaving and maltreating her. They also gave beatings on the next day of Diwali in the year 2007. The respondent would also assert that she is well versed in house hold work and had been performing her marital duties from the years 1998-2007. She prayed for dismissal of the petition of divorce.