Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — Section 13(1)(iii) — Dissolution of marriage

August 28th, 2013

Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — Section 13(1)(iii) — Dissolution of marriage — Ground of incurable unsound mind, Medical condition of wife due to husband’s conduct, Effect of — Appellant-husband seeking dissolution of marriage on ground that his wife is of incurable unsound mind, and suffers from mental disorder — Held, all the grounds/facts on which divorce has been sought, emerge from the medical condition of wife, after her cesarean operation — Symptoms during her first pregnancy were such, that couple was advised not to conceive for a period of two years — The husband did not heed to the advice tendered by the attending gynecologist — Therefore, this court is inclined to fully endorse the view expressed by Family Court, that appellant- husband himself, was responsible for the state of affairs of his wife-, inasmuch as he did not heed the advice of gynecologist after the abortion of her first pregnancy — There is no serious dispute, that to satisfy his desires, he impregnated his wife within a period of eight months, i.e., well within the risk period — Therefore, she suffered the predicted consequences — Medical condition of wife, on which the appellant basis his claim for divorce, is of his own doing — Not possible to conclude, that husband did not suffer from any “guilt” or “fault” in the matter — Accordingly, his prayer for divorce is just not acceptable — Dismissed.

(Para 35)

Darshan Gupta v. Radhika Gupta[Bench Strength 2], Civil Appeal Nos. 6332-6333/2009(01/07/2013), 2013(7) SCALE 583: 2013(6) SLT 67: 2013(5) Supreme 67: 2013(10) JT 98 [P. Sathasivam, J.: Jagdish Singh Khehar, J.]

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