AIR 1962 PUNJAB 183 ::ILR (1961) 1 Punj 764

Punjab High Court

Hon'ble Judge(s): P. C. Pandit , J

Hindu Marriage Act (25 of 1955) , S.9(2), S.13(2)(i), S.23(1)— Petition by husband for restitution of conjugal rights - Grounds available in defence - Wife resisting on ground of husband having first wife - It is a valid ground - S.23(1) has no application - Principle of condonation not applicable. Under S.9(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act a wife, in reply to a petition of husband for restitution of conjugal rights can plead nothing which is not a ground for judicial separation or for nullity of marriage or for divorce. It is enough if the wife shows that the ground that she had pleaded in answer to the petition was a ground for divorce as given in the Act. It is not necessary for her to show that she would have positively succeeded in getting a decree for divorce on that ground, if she had actually filed such a petition. The presence of the first wife is therefore a valid ground of defence under S.9(2) read with S.13(2)(i) available to the second wife in answer to the husband's petition for restitution of conjugal rights.(Para 11) Section 23(1)(a) of the Act has no application to a case where the wife is only defending a petition for restitution of conjugal rights filed by the husband. It might have applied if the wife had filed a petition for divorce on the ground that the husband already had a lawfully wedded wife, which fact w....