ANIL KUMAR CHAWLA Vs. PAMELA CHAWLA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been preferred by appellant-Anil Kumar Chawla, whose petition under Section 13 (1) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, for dissolution of his marriage on the ground of cruelty, has been dismissed by the Additional District Judge, Chandigarh, vide judgment and decree dated 12.05.2009.

(2.) As per the pleadings, marriage between the parties took place on 15.10.1983 at Roorkee, according to the Hindu rites. Respondent-wife, from the very beginning, was of very hysterical nature and would get agitated on small issues such as if someone visited the house, for making food, the food being not cooked in a particular manner to her liking, crying uncontrollably and threatening to commit suicide. Within a period of one year of marriage, position became so bad because of misbehaviour, harassment and cruelty at the hands of the respondent because of her abnormal behaviour and the parties decided to separate from each other in the year 1984 but on an assurance given by the in-laws of the appellant regarding the good behaviour of the respondent in future, the matter was settled with a hope that the things would improve. Two children were born out of the wedlock, elder being son Anupam Chawla, born on 15.01.1987 and the younger daughter Sakhsi Chawla on 17.06.1989. However, She continued to show disrespect to the appellant and his family members.

(3.) Respondent started working on part time basis in Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh and also worked in CISO on ad hoc basis. Thereafter, in the year 1997, she took up a job at Sukhmani Institute of Technology as teacher of Electronics Engineering at Dera Bassi. She was thereafter promoted as a Vice Principal of the said institute and it is, at that stage, she became very rude and headstrong, openly abusing everyone in the house and stopped doing any house-hold work. She started misbehaving with the shopkeepers and vendors etc. Behaviour of the respondent with her in-laws was pathetic especially towards her mother-in-law Smt. Kamla Chawla and her younger sister-in-law Neena Sawhney, who was married in the year 1986 but unfortunately, lost her husband in December, 1991 and was left with three children. Appellant taking it to be his responsibility to take care of his younger sister and her three children being the elder brother, when shared this with the respondent, she became hysterical and started hating her instead of helping a woman in distress. Even the elder sister of the appellant, Veena Ahuja, who lives in Canada, had not been treated properly rather respondent had misbehaved with them.