Bhaskar Bhattacharya, J. - (1.) THIS first appeal is at the instance of a wife who was a defendant in a suit for declaration that the marriage was a nullity, and in the alternative, for divorce on the ground of cruelty and is directed against the judgment and decree dated 20th March, 2006 passed by the learned Additional District Judge, First Court, Murshidabad, in Matrimonial Suit No. 256 of 1996, thereby declaring the marriage to be nullity on the ground of suppression of material fact concerning the wife.
(2.) BEING dissatisfied, the wife has come up with the present first appeal. The husband -respondent filed in the Court of District Judge, Nadia a suit being Matrimonial Suit No. 77 of 1994 which was subsequently, on basis of an order passed by this Court on an application of the wife under Section 24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, transferred to the Court of Additional District Judge, First Court, Murshidabad at Berhampore and was renumbered as Matrimonial Suit No. 256 of 1996.
(3.) THE case made out by the husband in the application under Section 12 of the Hindu Marriage Act and in the alternative, for divorce under Section 13 thereof, as it stands after the amendment of the application, may be summed up thus: (a) The parties were married according to Hindu rites and ceremonies on 17th Falgoon 1399 B.S. corresponding to March 1, 1993 at the house of the wife in the District of Murshidabad. On the following morning, the wife was taken to the house of the husband at Ranjan Pally, P.S. Chakdah in the District of Nadia. (b) On the night of Fulsajja, the wife refused to embrace the husband and did not allow him to even touch her body and also declined to share bed with him for which the husband became astonished but left the matter uncared for and did not give any importance. (c) On the following nights till Astomangala, the same thing was repeated and the wife continuously refused to share bed with the husband. (d) The father of the husband gave an advertisement in the "Ananda Bazar Patrika", a daily newspaper, for the marriage and on the basis of such advertisement, the father of the wife responded disclosing that the wife was then 24 years of age and had passed B.A. Examination and further informed that the wife had passed the diploma course of music up to fourth year. The husband also went to see the wife before marriage and all the times, the respondent disclosed that her educational qualification was B.A. (e) Even after two months of the marriage, when the wife did not allow the husband to touch her or make advances to sexual intercourse, the husband became astonished. (f) On 20th May, 1993, the wife reported to the husband that she had an abnormal pain in her left breast for which the husband took her to Dr. A.K. Ghosh, a gynaecologist, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical Hospital at Kalyani, who after examining the wife, opined that she had every doubt regarding existence of a tumour on the left side of the breast of the wife and suggested a thorough check up with proper examination through the medical expert. (g) The parties came back to Chakdah on the same day from Kalyani when the wife for the first time disclosed that before her marriage, she had been suffering from pain on several occasions which was also known to her parents and for that reason, she did not want to marry any person; but she was practically forced to marry the respondent due to her father's continuous insistence. She also disclosed that she could not pass the B.A. Examination but it was due to her father that she was compelled to disclose a blatant lie that she had passed B.A. Examination. She also disclosed that her age was near about 30 years at the time of the marriage and she had no diploma in music. (h) The husband was shocked to hear the aforesaid facts as the father of the wife by suppression of those material facts obtained the consent of marriage from the husband. (i) On the next morning, the husband reported such fact to the father of the wife who came on 28th May, 1993 and took her back and since then, the wife had been staying with her parents. (j) The wife underwent an operation at Berhampur of the tumour from her breast and getting such information, the husband went to see her at Berhampur only on humanitarian ground, but in fact, the husband could not condone the wrongdoing committed by the wife and her father of suppression regarding the age and qualification of the wife. Such act of suppression and conduct of the respondent and her father amounted to cruelty. (k) During the pendency of the suit, the wife filed an application before the Superintendent of Police, Nadia on 21st September, 1993 making allegation against the husband to the effect that the husband tried to blackmail her parents for the purpose of taking dowry. On the basis of such allegation, the police officers from Chakdah Police Station came to the house of the husband on 10th November, 1995 for making enquiry and as such, due to such false allegation, the husband was humiliated before the neighbouring people. Such act on the part of the wife also amounted to cruelty. Thus, the husband was also entitled to get a decree for divorce in alternative on the ground of cruelty.;