N. N. Mithal, J. - (1.) A decree for divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act having been passed against the appellant on the ground of desertion, the present appeal has been filed.
(2.) ADMITTEDLY the parties were married on 16-2-1975 when the husband was living jointly with his elder brother. After some time he left that house and begain to live in a separate house. Since the latter part of 1977 the parties are not living together as the wife now lives with her mother at Jabalpur. The oral evidence of the parties is very scanty and consists of uncorrborated statements of parties only besides two letters which constituted the entire documentary evidence. According to the case of the petitioner the wife was the root cause of discord in the family because of which he had to set up a separate establishment ever since Novembet, 1975. In October, 1977 the wife's mother had come for a few days and took his wife along with her to Jabalpur without his consent and against his wishes. Since then she has not returned to the matrimonial house. In December, 1977 he made an attempt to bring the appellant back but she refused to do so without any reasonable cause. In defence, the wife denied all the allegations made by the petitioner and put the blame squarely on petitioner himself. She denied having created any discord in the family or to have pressed him for separate residence. According to her she had been the victim of torture by the petitioner and it was due to cruelty that she had to leave Allahabad. Her case further was that the petitioner had left for Kanpur saying that he had official work but did not return and she was left to fend for himself. Forced by these circumstances and with no money with her she had no other choice but to go to Jabalpur with her mother whom she had called. She also denied having ever refused to come back to the matrimonial home. On the contrary the husband himself had refused resumption of marital relations.
(3.) THE following three issues were struck on the pleadings : 1. Whether the respondent has deserted the petitioner for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition ? 2. Whether the respondent has treated the petitioner with cruelty ? 3. To what relief, if any, is the petitioner entitled ? The findings returned by the trial court are that the appellant wife had deserted her husband without his consent and against his will and that she had failed to show any reasonable cause for living separately. The decree for divorce was, therefore, granted on the ground of desertion by the wife.;