The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court in the case of Smt. Pooja Dubey vs Sh. Manish Kumar consisting of Justices Amit Sharma and Siddharth Mridul held that the burden of proving reasonable excuse u/s 9 of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 would be on the person who has withdrawn from the society of her/his spouse.
Facts
This matrimonial appeal u/s 19 of The Family Courts Act, 1984 was filed against the impugned judgment whereby petition filed by respondent u/s 9 of The Hindu Marriage Act was allowed and a decree for restitution of conjugal rights was passed in favour of the respondent and against the appellant.
Contentions Made
Petitioner: It was contended that both petitioner and respondent had long courtship period and without involving or informing their parents, on 03.03.2012 solemnized their marriage at Arya Samaj Mandir according to Hindu rites and customs. Thereafter, both the parties went to their respective homes without disclosing this fact to their parents and decided that they would disclose the same to their parents in a conducive manner and try to win them over.
Respondent: It was contended that she had never married the petitioner. The petitioner had threatened her and under pressure, she followed petitioner's instructions and allowed him to take photographs with garlands in the Mandir along with thumb impressions and signatures on blank papers. Moreover, the essential ceremonies like saptapadi were also not performed.
Procedural History
The Family Court held that the appellant was residing separately from the husband, without justification.
Observations of the Court
The Bench noted that the learned counsel for the appellant reiterated the same issues raised before the learned Family Court, i.e., the validity of the marriage, both with respect to the non-performance of essential ceremonies and her forcible consent. But the counsel could not demonstrate from the pleadings and the documents on record that the findings of the Family Court were erroneous or that the appreciation of the evidence in the impugned judgment suffers from any illegality or perversity.
It noted that Section 9 of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 talks about Restitution of Conjugal right and a bare perusal of the explanation to the same shows that burden of proving reasonable excuse would be on the person who has withdrawn from the society of her/his spouse.
Moreover, it was also noted that it was an admitted situation that the appellant till date had not filed any proceeding challenging the marriage between the parties under The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or under any other provision of law in support of claims made in the written statement filed before the learned Family Court.
Judgment
Seeing no reason to interfere with the impugned judgment, this matrimonial appeal was dismissed and disposed of accordingly.
Case: Smt. Pooja Dubey vs Sh. Manish Kumar
Citation: MAT.APP. (F.C.) 108/2021
Bench: Justice Amit Sharma, Justice Siddharth Mridul
Decided on: 28th September 2022
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