S. Jayantha Shereen vs S. Jayarajan

Srinivasan, J.—The petition has been filed by the wife on the ground that the husband is impotent and that he treated her with cruelty. But

the petition contains two prayers, one for divorce dissolving the marriage and another for declaration that the marriage is null and void. Once, the

allegation is that the husband was impotent at the time of the marriage and at the time of the filing of the petition, the decree that has to be passed is

one of declaration of nullity. Hence, the prayer for divorce is redundant and it cannot be granted in this case. The husband remained ex parte. The

petitioner has given evidence as P.W.1 and she has marked Exs. A.1 to A.4. Ex. A.4 is a letter written by the husband to the Court after receiving

the summons from Court. In that letter, he has stated that he wants to contest the proceedings and he denies the allegations made in the petition.

However, he has not chosen to appear in court and contest the proceedings. Hence, he was set ex parte.

The District Judge, after considering the entire evidence on record, has come to the conclusion that the respondent was impotent both at the

time of the marriage and at the time when the petition was filed. Instead of granting a decree declaring that the marriage is a nullity, the learned

District Judge has dissolved the marriage. In our opinion, the matter should have been dealt with only u/s 18 of the Act and the marriage should

have been declared as null and void.

The Amicus Curiae appearing for the respondent, submits that the marriage appears to have been registered at Singapore and this proceeding is

not sustainable in this country. We are unable to accept this contention. The petitioner has produced sufficient evidence to prove that the marriage

took place at Nagercoil, according to Christian rites in the C.S.I. Home Church. The marriage invitation has been marked as Ex. A.1 There is no

evidence contra. The petitioner has also not been cross examined. In the circumstances, we hold that the court at Nagercoil has jurisdiction to deal

with the matter. We modify the decree granted by the learned District Judge and declare that the marriage that took place between the petitioner

and the respondent is null and void. We order accordingly.