BALJIT SINGH Vs. HARINDER KAUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) APPELLANT husband has filed this appeal under Section 23 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (in short, the Act) against lower Court's judgment dated January 27, 1986, whereby his petition filed under Section 13 of the Act was dismissed. Admittedly, petitioner-appellant was married to respondent-Harinder Kaur on June 30, 1980, at Village Bukheri, Tehsil and District Ambala. Thereafter for three years they lived together. No child was born in this wedlock. At the time of marriage the spouses were and are still in service. Petitioner-appellant is Overser in Army while respondent-Harinder Kaur is working as a teacher in Adult Education School. Since March 1983 the parties are living separately.

(2.) IN the lower Court petitioner-appellant's case was that the respondent was a quarrelsome lady. She got, her brother with his family members, turned out from her parental home, so that she may live there privately and peacefully with her parents at village Bukheri. Since the petitioner-appellant is employed in active military service, he cannot keep the respondant at the place of his posting. During his leave period till March 1983 the respondent used to come and live with him in the matrimonial home. The respondent left the petitioner-appellant's house in his absence while he was on duty. She had taken away all her ornaments and clothes as well. Since then she is living in village Bukheri and has refused to resume cohabitation. Petitioner-appellant's father had taken a Panchayat in August, 1983 to her parental home in order to bring her back, but the respondent flatly refused to come back. She made it clear that if the petitioner-appellant wanted to live, he could live with her at village Bukheri, but due to his service he could not accede to her wishes and was unable to reside in her parental home as resident son-in-law. There is no other person in petitioner-appellant's family to look after his old parents. Petitioner appellant again visited the respondent's parental home and requested her to come back to village Boh, where his parents reside, but the respondent rebuked him in filthy language and also insulted him and declined to come back. Thus, she has withdrawn from the society of the petitioner-appellant.

(3.) IN her reply, the respondent denied that she has deserted the petitioner- appellant. She has also denied that any Panchayat was convened at his instance. According to her, petitioner-appellant, his parents, his uncle and aunt were not satisfied with the dowry given at the time of her marriage. Being dissatisfied on this count as well as on the count that no child was born to her, they wanted to re-marry the petitioner-appellant. She was maltreated and harassed by all of them and finally in the month of March 1983, she was turned out of the matrimonial home by the petitioner-appellant. When petition under section 9 of the Act was pending, she declined to go back to her matrimonial home on the count that she apprehended danger to her life at the hands of the petitioner-appellant. Her father and other relations went to the petitioner-appellant's house for reconciliation, but he and his parents always declined to rehabilitate her.