C.G. Suri, J. - (1.) SMT . Veena Kumari's petition for divorce under section 13(1)(ii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 on the ground of her husband's apostasy has been dismissed by the learned District Judge, Gurgaon, with the observations, inter alia, that the petition had been presented in collusion with the respondent and that there was an unnecessary and improper delay in filing it. Smt. Veena Kumari has, therefore, come up in appeal to this Court, Her husband, Shri Prem Kumar respondent, had not contested the petition in the lower Court and he has not even bothered to appear in spite of service of notice of this appeal.
(2.) THE marriage between the parties has been solemnised at Gurgaon on 5th January, 1966. The parties had lived together as husband and wife after the marriage for a period of only about three months and no child had been born from the wedlock. In the divorce petition, both the parties are shown to have professed Hindu religion at the time of the marriage. The respondent was, however, shown to be a Christian on the date of filing of the petition. According to the baptismal certificate, Exhibit R.1, produced in the trial court by the respondent, he had embraced Christianity on 10th March, 1969. His wife had filed this petition within a week of the baptismal ceremony. This may give the impression that the wife was rather too hasty in filing the divorce petition within a week of the date on which her husband had embraced Christianity. In view of the provisions of section 14 of the Hindu Marriage Act, the parties could not have filed any divorce petition within three years of the date of marriage and it cannot be said that conversion to another religion could be described as a case of exceptional hardship to the petitioner or of exceptional depravity on the part of the respondent to justify the filing of a petition before the expiry of that period of three years. It would, therefore, be too much to say that there was unnecessary and improper delay in the filing of the divorce petition. The explanation why the wife had filed the petition so soon after the respondent had finally embraced Christianity was that from the very start, the respondent had leanings towards that religion. The final step that he took in going through the baptismal ceremony could have precipitated the rift. The appellant had not lived with her husband for more than a few months and there was nothing unnatural if she did not know the exact data on which her husband had taken the final step in embracing Christianity. The respondent's earlier leanings towards that religion could have given a young girl -like the appellant the impression that the respondent was a christian from the very start. There was no evidence worth the name to justify the finding that the parties were colluding with each other. The fact the respondent had embraced Christianity could be proved by the appellant by documentary evidence and the respondent would have committed perjury if he had denied that fact in his written statement, verified on solemn affirmation. According to the provisions of section 20(2), pleadings of the parties can be referred to by the Court as evidence in the case.
(3.) THE learned trial judge had examined the parties on the first hearing before the framing of issues. The parties are examined at that stage with the idea of elucidating the pleadings and the facts of the case or for bringing about an amicable settlement. It is doubtful whether the learned judge was justified in dismissing the divorce petition in that manner without calling upon the parties to produce their evidence. In view of the written statement filed by the respondent and the documentary evidence about the ground on which divorce had been claimed by the appellant, there was hardly any justification for dismissing the petition. The observations that there was any delay in the filing of the petition or that the parties were colluding with each other are not borne out by the record. The respondent had given a valid explanation for the impression created that he was professing Christianity even before the formal baptismal ceremony.;