P.Chakravartti, J. - (1.) This is a reference under Section 17 of the Indian Divorce Act by the learned District Judge of Burdwan of a decree passed by himself on the 6th of March 1958, whereby he dissolved a marriage between one Myrtle Evelyn Mary Barrett and one Adrian James Benjamin Barrett. The decree has been submitted to this Court for confirmation.
(2.) The parties are of the Roman Catholic faith and were married according to Christian rites on the 31st of December, 1949. They appear to have been rather young at the date of the marriage, the respondent being only 23 and the wife 22. After the marriage, they lived first at Sindri and then at Sitarampur till July, 1953, when, for the first time their married life began to crack up.
(3.) The present proceeding was initiated by the wife. Her case was that in July, 1953, she found her husband and one Sheila Nichols sharing the same bed in the matrimonial home. This naturally led to an estrangement and the parties separated, each going to live with his or her parents. In September 1953, the wife again found the husband in a compromising position with the same Sheila Nichols, but this time, in a descried butcher's shop at Dhanbad. It was impossible after the discovery of this second instance of infidelity, that they should live together and in fact, they have not done so. The wife alleged that in October, 1953, her husband disappeared from Dhanbad and along with him the girl Sheila Nichols also disappeared. She however hoped that her husband would return after sometime, but he did not and in spite of frantic enquiries made in several quarters, she had been unable to discover his whereabouts. Since October, 1953, to the date of her application which was the 22nd May, 1957, her husband had neither been seen nor heard of nor had he done any thing to support her. On those allegations, she asked for a divorce on the ground of adultery coupled with desertion.;