S.C. Mital, J. - (1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment of the Additional District Judge, Patiala. dismissing the petition under section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. filed by Bhagwant Singh for dissolution of his marriage with Parkash Kaur.
(2.) The parties were admittedly married on 18th Feb., 1969 and two daughters were born out of the wed lock. It was averred in the petition by Bhagwant Singh that Parkash Kaur being short-tempered, used to abuse him and levelled unfounded allegations of immorality. She was thus guilty of cruelty. Besides, she had deserted him for a continuous period of more than two years before the present petition.
(3.) In the written statement, Parkash Kaur denied the allegations made against her. On the other hand, the case made out by her is that she had been the victim of mental and physical cruelty at the hands of her husband Bhagwant Singh. When she was in the advanced stage of pregnancy, she was turned out by Bhagwant Singh of his house. She came to her parents and began living with her widowed mother. No maintenance was given to her by Bhagwant Singh. Even the customary presents were not given at the time of the birth of the second daughter. In the detailed written statement, she further averred that Ram Singh, who had arranged alliance between the parties, made an attempt to rehabilitate her, but Bhagwant Singh would not agree. After the death of her father, her mother was unable to maintain her. In these circumstances, she was sent back along with Panchayat consisting of Gujar Singh, Gindar Singh, Ram Singh and her mother by the car of one Darhara Singh. As a result of the persuasive efforts made by these persons, Bhagwant Singh agreed to keep her and the two daughters in his house, but shortly thereafter, he began maltreating her. Information in this regard was conveyed by Mukand Singh to her mother. Thereafter, Ram Singh, Jita Singh Sarpanch, Darbara Singh Lambardar, Bhagwan Singh, Ex-Sarpanch and others came to the house of Bhagwan Singh in village Bhadaur about 14 years before the filing of the written statement and they brought her along with her two daughters to the house of her mother because her husband Bhagwant Singh would neither change his ways nor would be maintain her and the two daughters. The pleadings of the parties led to the following issues: 1. Whether the respondent has deserted the petitioner ? If so, when and with what effect? 2. Whether the respondent is guilty of cruelty towards petitioner? 3. Whether the petitioner is guilty of cruelty towards the respondent. The Additional District Judge decided all the three issues against Bhagwant Singh. I have been taken through the material on record by the learned counsel for the parties. It deserves mention at the outset that Bhagwant Singh, as observed by the learned Additional District Judge made a lot of improvement in his case. On the other hand a perusal of the evidence on record shows that the pleas taken up by Parkash Kaur are not only consistent but also have a ring of truth. The most important fact which Bhagwant Singh failed to prove is animus deserendi on the part of Parkash Kaur. The entire facts and circumstances discussed in detail by the Additional District Judge indicate that it was Bhagwant Singh whose cruelty compelled Parkash Kaur to leave him and take refuge in the house of her widowed mother. Proof to this conclusion is found in the report lodged by her on 16th Jan., 1978, at Police Station, Bhadaur. A perusal thereof shows that in order to avoid any blame on her, she reported to the police that she had left the of her husband under straitened circumstances. This further corroborates the stand taken by her that she separated from her husband on the said date That being so, the statutory period of two years required by section 13 of the Act above said had not completed before the filing of the petition for the dissolution of marriage on the ground of desertion.;