Civil Appeal No 2754 of 1981
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated the 6th August 1979 of the Allahabad High Court in Civil Revision No 1904 of 1978
M K Garg for the Appellant
K K Mahrotra for the Respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SEN J
The short point involved in this appeal by special leave from a judgment of the Allahabad High Court is whether the Court of the District Judge Almora had jurisdiction to entertain the petition for nullity of marriage filed by the respondent under section 12 of the hereinafter referred to as the Act 
To bring out the point it is necessary to state a few facts
It appears that the parties originally belonged to village Bagyan 1005 District Pithoragarh in the State of Uttar Pradesh
The appellant s A case is that they fell in love and she became enceinte as the respondent had access to her during the period of courtship
Her case is that she wanted to marry the respondent but her father was opposed to the alliance as her elder brother and sister were unmarried
She was therefore brought in an advanced stage of pregnancy to Delhi and through the intervention of her uncle Basant Kumar the marriage was solemnised on January 24 1976 according to Arya Samaj rites at the Arya Samaj Mandir Hanuman Road New Delhi
Three days after the marriage ie On January 27 1976 the respondent left the residence of Basant Kumar on the pretext that he had to fetch his belongings from the residence of his uncle Dharm Nand Pant who also lives at Delhi and never returned
On February 6 1976 he served a notice on the appellant alleging that the marriage was a nullity as she got pregnant through someone else that fraud was practised on him by her uncle Basant Kumar and that he had been coerced to marry her against his will
On February 17 1976 she sent a reply denying the allegations made therein
On March 2 1976 she filed a petition for restitution of conjugal rights under section 9 of the Act in the Court of Subordinate Judge Class I Delhi
It may here be stated that although the appellant is a resident of Delhi as she lives with her uncle Basant Kumar at Lajwanti Garden and the respondent was also a resident of Delhi being employed at all material times as Radio Technician in the Ministry of Home Affairs Rail Bhavan New Delhi he started the present proceedings not at Delhi but at Almora
On March 18 1976 the respondent filed a petition for nullity of marriage under section 12 of the Act in the Court of the District Judge Almora alleging that the parties were residents of village Bagyan District Pithoragarh ie within the territorial jurisdiction of the Court of District Judge Almora
On March 23 1976 ie just after five days of the filing of the petition under section 12 of the Act the appellant delivered a dead child at Delhi
On February 25 1977 the Subordinate Judge Class 1 Delhi decreed the appellant s suit for restitution of conjugal rights under s 9 of the Act
In decreeing her claim for restitution of conjugal rights the learned Subordinate Judge observed That to sum up the evidence adduced by petitioner proves that the petitioner and respondent were known to 1006 each other and had developed sexual intimacy
It is further proved that the respondent married the petitioner at Delhi on 2411976 of his own sweet free will according to Hindu rites
The petitioner delivered a dead child on 2331976 would show that on the date of marriage the petitioner was running in 7th month of pregnancy
Such advanced stage of pregnancy could not be hidden from the vision of any person
The plea of respondent that he did not know on 2411976 that the petitioner was pregnant cannot be believed
The respondent thus knew at the time of marriage that the petitioner was pregnant
The very fact that he married her of his own free will would justify the conclusion corroborated by other evidence and circumstances discussed above that the petitioner had conceived from the respondent and the respondent thus married her of his own free will
 The judgment of the learned Subordinate Judge decreeing the appellant s claim for restitution of conjugal rights under section 9 of the Act was not appealed from and has therefore become final
Upon these facts it is quite evident that the Court of the District Judge Almora had no jurisdiction to try the petition for the nullity of marriage filed by the respondent under section 12 of the Act
The appellant by her written statement filed on August 23 1976 challenged the jurisdiction of the District Judge Almora to try the suit
The learned District Judge accordingly framed a preliminary issue as to jurisdiction
By his order dated April 8 1978 he negatived the objection raised by the appellant holding that since the parties were originally resident of village Bagyan District Pithoragarh that is a place within the territorial jurisdiction of the Court of the District Judge Almora he I was competent to entertain and try the suit
The appellant being aggrieved by the order of the learned District Judge preferred an appeal before the High Court
The High Court by its judgment dated August 6 1979 upheld the finding of the learned District Judge observing The allegations made in the written statement do unmistakably show that the respondent was ordinarily residing at village Bagyan which was within the limits of the terri 1007 torial jurisdiction of the Court or District Judge Almora
A Even if she happened to be in Delhi on the date when the petition was presented she must have gone to Delhi only on a temporary visit as she had no place of residence at Delhi and the respondent could not be said to have been residing at Delhi when the petition was presented in the District Court
 In arriving at that conclusion the High Court was obviously influenced by the fact that the parties never had any permanent residence
While it is true that mere casual or temporary visits do not constitute residence  within the meaning of cl
ii of section 19 of the Act it cannot be said that the parties came to Delhi on a temporary sojourn for a day or two
The appellant s case is that she had left her parental home at village Bagyan as her father did not consent to the marriage
If that be so the irresistible conclusion is that she came to reside with the respondent at Delhi
It was frankly conceded before us that the finding of the High Court that she should be so regarded as having her residence at village Bagyan in 1 the District of Pithoragarh is based on no evidence
It is agreed on all hands that ever since the marriage the appellant has been residing with her uncle Basant Kumar at Lajwanti Garden
New Delhi
Section 19 of the Act insofar as material reads as follows 19
Every petition under this Act shall be presented to the District Court within the local limits of whose ordinary original civil jurisdiction i the marriage was solemnised or ii the respondent at the time of the presentation of the petition resides or iii the parties to the marriage last resided together  It is common ground that the marriage was solemnised on January 26 1976 at New Delhi
The fact that the parties last resided together at the residence of the appellant s uncle Basant kumar at Lajwanti Garden New Delhi is not in dispute
It is therefore clear that the conditions laid down in cls
i and iii of section 19 of the Act are not present to invest the Court of the District Judge Almora to entertain the petition for annulment of marriage filed by the respondent under s 12 of Act 1008 The question that arises is whether the learned District Judge was invested with jurisdiction by reason of cl
ii of section 19 of the Act ie whether at the time of presentation of the petition the appellant was a resident of village Bagyan within the territorial jurisdiction of the Court of District Judge
In order to give jurisdiction on the ground of residence  something more than a temporary stay is required
It must be more or less of a permanent character and of such a nature that the court in which the respondent is sued is his natural forum
The word reside  is by no means free from all ambiguity and is capable of a variety of meanings according to the circumstances to which it is made applicable and the context in which it is found
It is capable of being understood in its ordinary sense of having one s own dwelling permanently as well as in its extended sense
In its ordinary sense residence  is more or less of a permanent character
The expression resides  means to make an abode for a considerable time to dwell permanently or for a length of time to have a settled abode for a time
It is the place where a person has a fixed home or abode
In Webster s Dictionary to reside  has been defined as meaning to dwell permanently or for any length at time  and words like dwelling place  or abode  are held to be synonymous
Where there is such fixed home or such abode at one place the person cannot be said to reside at any other place where he had gone on a casual or temporary visit eg for health or business or for a change
If a person lives with his life and children in an established home his legal and actual place of residence is the same
If a person has no established home and is compelled to live in hotels boarding houses or houses or others his actual and physical habitation is the place where he actually or personally resides
It is plain in the context of cl
ii of section 19 of the Act that the word resides  must mean the actual place of residence and not a legal or constructive residence it certainly does not connote the place of origin
The word resides  is a flexible one and has many shades of meaning but it must take its colour and content from the context in which it appears and cannot be read in isolation
It follows that it was the actual residence of the appellant at the commencement of the proceedings that had to be considered for determining whether the District Judge Almora had jurisdiction or not
That being so the High Court was clearly in error in uphold in the finding of the learned District Judge that he had jurisdiction 1009 to entertain and try the petition for annulment of marriage filed by the respondent under section 12 of the Act
In the result the judgment of the High Court is set aside and the District Judge Almora is directed to return to the respondent the petition filed by him for nullity of marriage under section 12 of the for presentation to the proper court ie the Court of the District Judge Delhi
There shall be Do order as to costs
SR Appeal allowed


Summary:
The appellant is the wife and the respondent is the husband
The parties originally belonged to village Bagyan District Pithoragrh in the State of Uttar Pradesh
They fell in love and the appellant became encients as the respondent had access to her during the period of courtship
As her father was opposed to her marriage the appellant was brought in a advance stage of pregnancy to Delhi and through the intervention of her uncle Basant Kumar their marriage was solemnised according to Arya Samaj rites at New Delhi
A few days after the marriage the respondent left the residence of Basant Kumar on the pretext of fetching his belongings from the residence of his uncle who also lives at Delhi and never returned
He served a notice on the appellant alleging that the marriage was a nullity as she got pregnant through someone else and that fraud was practised on him by her uncle and that he had coerced to marry against his will
The appellant after denying the allegations filed a petition for restitution of conjugal rights under section 9 of the Act in the Court of Subordinate Judge Class l Delhi which was decreed in her favour and the said decree had become final
Later on the respondent filed a petition under section 12 of the Act in the Court of the District Judge Almora alleging that the parties were residents of village Bagyan while in fact at all material times both resided at Delhi
A few days after the appellant delivered a dead child at Delhi
Later on by her written statement she challenged the jurisdiction of the District Judge Almora to try the suit
The district Judge answered the preliminary issue as to the jurisdiction against the appellant
The High Court in appeal by its judgment affirmed the order
Hence this appeal by special leave
Allowing the appeal the Court  HELD 11
In the context of clause ii of the section 19 of the  the word resides must mean actual residence and not a legal or constructive residence it certainly does not connote the place of origin
In order to give jurisdiction on the ground of residence  something more than a mere temporary stay is required
It must be more or less of a permanent 1004 character and of such a nature that the court in which the respondent is sued is his natural forum
In the instant case at the commencement of the proceedings both the parties admittedly resided at Delhi and therefore the District Judge Almora did not have jurisdiction to entertain the suit
1008 F H 1009A 12 The word residence is a flexible one and has many shades of meaning but it must take its colour and content from the context in which it appears and cannot be read in isolation
It is capable of being understood in its ordinary sense of having one s own dwelling permanently as well as in its extended sense
In its ordinary sense residence is more or less of ca permanent character
The expression resides means to make an abode for a considerable time to dwell permanently or for a length of time to have a settled abode for a time
It is the place where a person has a fixed home or abode
Where there is such fixed home or such abode at one place the person cannot be said to reside at any other place where he had gone on a casual or temporary visit for example for health or business or for a change
If a person lives with his wife and children in an established home his legal and actual place of residence is the same
If a person has no established home and is compelled ta live in hotels boarding houses or houses of others his actual and physical habitation is the place where he actually or personally resides
1008 B C E F The Court allowed the appeal and directed that the petition for nullity of marriage filed by the respondent under section 12 of the  be returned for presentation to the proper court ie the court of the District Judge Delhi