First husband challenges divorce order, plea rejected

First husband challenges divorce order, plea rejected

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | J STALIN
016, 6:08 am IST
Madras High Court rules in favour of woman.

Chennai: Coming to the rescue of a woman, who after getting an ex-parte decree of divorce, got married to another person and gave birth to a girl child, the Madras HC has dismissed a petition filed by her first husband, which sought to set aside the ex-parte order of divorce and permit him to contest the case.


Dismissing the petition filed by the husband, a Division Bench comprising Justices R. Sudhakar and S. Vaidyanathan said on a reading of the affidavit filed by the wife, it was crystal clear she has started a new lease of life with her second husband and the first husband has no reason to interfere in her ways, that too, when there was a decree of divorce between them.

Initially, the first husband and the wife filed a petition for divorce by mutual consent before the subordinate judge, Ooty. Since the husband did not appear before the court, the petition was dismissed for default on August 27, 2012.
According to the wife, her husband did not lead a meaningful life with her in order to continue the bond of marriage.

Hence, she filed a petition on January 29, 2013 before the Sub-Judge, Ooty seeking divorce on grounds of cruelty and desertion. When the said case was taken up for hearing on July 17, 2014, the husband was called absent and hence the petition was allowed in wife’s favour.

On August 5, 2014, the husband filed an application, seeking to set aside the ex-parte order and allow him to contest the petition on merits. On September 7, 2015, the family court, Udhagamandalam, dismissed the application. Aggrieved, he filed the present petition.

Writing the judgment for the Bench, Justice Vaidyanathan said while dealing with a matrimonial dispute, pragmatic approach was very important. The court cannot plainly go by available evidence. The case should be dealt with based on established facts and circumstances. In this case, though it was apparent that the husband was inclined to save the marriage with his wife, whether he really intends to live with her peacefully was not known. But the prevalent situation was otherwise.