Dharmadhikari, J. - (1.) These two cross appeals arise from matrimonial proceedings. The wife is aggrieved by the impugned reversing judgment of the High Court declaring her marriage as null and void under Section 11 read with Section 5(i) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the Act for short). The husband is aggrieved by the part of the impugned judgment of the High Court whereby it maintained the amount of maintenance fixed per month for the wife under Section 25 of the Act.
(2.) The facts of this case tell the tragic tale of an Indian woman, who having gone through two marriages with a child born to her apprehends destitution as both marriages have broken down.
(3.) The husband is an Income Tax Practitioner in the town of Ratlam in the State of Madhya Pradesh. His first marriage was solemnized with late Smt. Usha in the year 1963 and from her he has two sons and one daughter. The marriage of the present wife, it is alleged, was arranged with one Girdhari Lal Lakhotia on 15-5-1979. According to the wife, the customary rituals of marriage were not completed as in the marriage ceremony family members quarrelled over dowry. She had filed a Divorce Petition No. 76/78 in Matrimonial Court at Amravati but it was not prosecuted and no decree of divorce was passed. It is the case of the wife that in accordance with the prevalent custom in Maheshwari community a Chhor Chithhi or a document of dissolution of marriage was executed between the wife and her previous husband on 15-5-1979 and it was later got registered.;