MRS MURIEL BLANCHE HARTLEY Vs. JACK FLEMING HARTLEY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Mrs. Muriel Blanche Hartley asks this Court to confirm the decree nisi granted to her by Mr. Badhwar, District Judge of Saharanpur, for dissolu?tion of her marriage with Jack Fleming Hartley, on the ground of adultery and cruelty.

(2.) As the record stood when it came before us, we should have had no hesitation what-, ever in refusing to confirm the decree. Both Mr. Badhwar, the District Judge who tried the case, and Mr. R. I. Wahid, who appeared before him and in this Court on behalf of the petitioner, would almost seem to have been under the impression that, if a petition for divorce is unopposed, it is sufficient basis for a decree if there is evidence that the respondent has committed the adultery and has been cruel to his wife. There is not in the judgment one single word to suggest that the learned Judge gave one moment's thought to such very material questions as whether there had been unexplained delay in filing the peti?tion, or whether there had been connivance on the part of the petitioner at the alleged adultery.

(3.) Paragraph 4 of the petition alleged "that during the last two years or so one Miss Dorothy Gardiner was introduced into the home by the respondent, the said Miss Dorothy Gardiner continually living with the petitioner and the respondent wherever they were posted except with one or two breaks for a few days at a time." Paragraph 5 alleges that on divers occasions during these two years the respondent com?mitted adultery with the said Miss Dorothy Gardiner. Subsequent paragraphs set out the charges of alleged cruelty. In para. 14 the petitioner made the usual statement that there was no collusion or connivance.