Romesh Kumar Sharda vs Neelam

Amarjeet Chaudhary. J.—''This appeal is directed against the judgment of District Judge, Amritsar, dated 19-12-1991, who had dismissed the petition u/s 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act filed by the petitioner, hereinafter referred to as the ''appellant''.

Aggrieved against the aforesaid judgment, the appellant has filed the present appeal.

The case of the appellant is that the marriage between the appellant and the respondent was solemnised on 19-5-1985. The respondent-wife withdrew from the society of the appellant without any sufficient cause and reason on 27-11-1986 and never returned to her matrimonial home. As such, this amounts to desertion. The learned Counsel for the appellant contends that the respondent-wife has also committed cruelty towards him as she used to attend kitty-parties and was reluctant in preparing breakfast.

The case was resisted by the respondent-wife-and she had pleaded that she had left her husband as he used to maltreat her.

I have gone through the paper-book and considered the submissions of the parties.

A perusal of the paper-book reveals that the appellant has miserably failed to substantiate the allegation of cruelty. He has not been able to explain as to how the alleged acts amount to cruelty. Mere assertion is not enough. It is to be substantiated by cogent evidence, which the appellant has miserably failed to bring on record in this case.

It is seen from the file that the respondent-wife had left her matrimonial home on 27-11-1986, whereas the divorce petition was filed on 20-4-1988. The respondent wife has not deserted the appellant continuously for a period of two years or more immediately preceding the filing of the divorce petition. As such the case of desertion is also without any base.

It will be interesting to note that no effort by the husband to bring back his wife to her matrimonial home was ever made. The appellant husband has not even opted to file a petition for restitution of conjugal rights, rather it was the respondent-wife who had moved an application u/s 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which was allowed by the Court.

For the foregoing reasons, the appeal is dismissed being devoid of any merit with costs which are quantified at Rs. 1,000/-