Divorce -- Desertion Alleged Against Wife After Unsubstantiated Allegation of Extramarital Contact -- Stay at parents' house justified, petition rightly dismissed
(i) Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, S.13(1)(ib) -- Divorce on Ground of Desertion -- Wife Going to Mother's House Not Desertion -- Going over to the mother's house cannot be construed as an act of desertion by the wife, and such conduct stands justified in appropriate circumstances. (ii) Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, S.13(1)(ib) -- Divorce on Ground of Desertion -- Continuous Stay at Parents' House After Delivery -- Continuous stay of the wife at her parents' house following delivery of a child is not to be treated as an act of desertion, and such conduct stands justified. (iii) Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, S.13(1)(ib) -- Divorce on Ground of Desertion -- Unsubstantiated Allegation of Extramarital Contact Driving Wife Away -- Where the husband levels an allegation that the wife was in close contact with another person, without mentioning his name, contact details, or any other particulars, such an unsubstantiated allegation, made against a wife who had just given birth, would naturally cause her grief and make reconciliation impossible. Where such conduct of the husband drives the wife to her mother's house, her stay there cannot be treated as an act of desertion, and the petition for divorce on this ground is rightly dismissed.
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