JAGJIT KAUR Vs. RAVINDER SINGH KALSI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AFTER the acceptance of petition of the husband-respondent by the learned Additional District Judge, Jalandhar vide judgment and decree dated 4.9.2002, filed under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, the wife- appellant has come to this court in appeal.

(2.) IN brief the facts of the case are that parties to the petition entered into nuptial-knot on 6.12.1992 at Amber Hotel, Hoshiarpur, according to Hindu rites and ceremonies. After the solemnisation of the marriage, the parties cohabited as husband and wife at Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar. Out of this wedlock, one female child, namely, Priyanka was born on 3.11.1993 at Jalandhar. It is alleged by the husband that right from the inception of the marriage, the behaviour of the appellant was very cruel and harsh and it had become impossible for him to live with her. The conduct of the wife has created bad impact on his mind and personality. Thus, he was unable to tolerate the torture and distress conduct of the appellant wife. It was also submitted by the respondent-husband that his mother-in-law is a widow lady. She is living in a Government quarter at Gandhi Vanita Ashram, Kapurthala Chowk, Jalandhar. She had four daughters. The appellant is the eldest. The younger sister of the appellant was married prior to their marriage but her husband named Lovely has absconded because of a criminal case registered against him. The appellant wife insisted to the respondent to live with her family and on his refusal to do so, she threatened him, his mother and other family members to implicate them in a criminal case. The appellant wife used to create tension in the family on this score and also threatened to commit suicide. She also used to strike her head against the wall in order to draw the attention of the neighbours. Once she ran on the road using abusive language against him, his mother, brother and married sister. The respondent- husband being eldest in the family had to bear the responsibility of the family after the death of his father as he had been given service as Senior Booking Clerk in the Railways on compassionate grounds. The entire family was dependent on the respondent. In the meanwhile, the appellant became pRegulation nt and the respondent thought it proper to live at her Quarter No. 240-A, Railway Colony, Jalandhar, but the same had been let out by her to some person illegally and she herself started living at her mother's house. The attitude of her mother was not proper. As and when he visited her house, the appellant and her mother used to administer Taveez to the respondent to create hatred in his mind against his parents. Many a time the respondent requested her to resist from her acts but to no effect. It was some time back that she has levelled allegations against him and threatened to get him dismissed from service. She refused to live with the respondent at Hoshiarpur in the matrimonial home and to perform the matrimonial obligations. She filed a complaint against the respondent in Mahila Mandal, Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall, Jalandhar, in which the allegations of demand of dowry were levelled against him and his family members. She also filed a criminal complaint against the respondent, his mother, brother and married sister on 13.2.1997 as a counter- blast to the divorce petition. Number of efforts were made by the trial court and even by the Lok Adalat to bring reconciliation between the parties but all the efforts proved futile. He has also pleaded that they lived together for a period of less than two years after the marriage and thereafter, they have been living separately from each other for more than eight years. The marriage between the parties is virtually dead and chances of its revival are quite bleak. Due to the acts of the appellant-wife, the respondent-husband has suffered mental cruelty. Thus, he sought a decree of divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion.

(3.) ON the pleadings of the parties, the trial court framed the following issues :-