C.R. No. 7254 of 2009 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.R. No. 7254 of 2009 (O&M) Date of decision : 31.3.2010 ... Renu ................Petitioner vs. Ishwar Singh Kataria .................Respondent Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice K.C. Puri Present: Sh. C.B. Goel, Advocate for the petitioner Sh. Vinod S. Bhardwaj, Advocate for the respondent. ... K.C. Puri, J. (Oral) This is a revision petition preferred by wife against the order dated 7.11.2009 passed by District Judge (Family Court), Gurgaon, vide which the medical examination of petitioner-Renu was ordered. Ishwar Singh Kataria-husband filed a petition under Sectin 13 (i) (a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, for dissolution of marriage by way of decree of divorce on various grounds. One of the ground taken by the petitioner-husband is that respondent-wife is a hypochondriac lady. The husband, now respondent, filed an application before the Family Court for examination of Renu by a C.R. No. 7254 of 2009 -2- Medical Board of PGI Rohtak/Mental Hospital of Delhi, for assessing the mental capability/disorder of Renu. That application was resisted. Learned District Judge, accepted the application relying upon the authority reported as Sharda vs. Dharampal 2003 (4) SCC 493, and ordered the examination of Renu by Civil Surgeon of General Hospital, Gurgaon. That order has been impugned in the present revision petition by the wife. Learned counsel for the petitioner-wife has submitted that although the Family Court can order the examination of a party regarding mental condition, but there must be some prima facie case. It is further contended that in Sharda's case (Supra) also, it has been held that the Court should exercise such a power of examination if the applicant has a strong prima facie case and there is sufficient material before the Court. So, it is contended that there is no such material on the record and ordering the examination of petitioner by a Civil Surgeon is against the facts and law and prayer has been made for acceptance of revision petition. In reply to the above mentioned submission, learned counsel for the respondent has supported the order of the Family Court and has further submitted that doctors only can tell about the mental condition and to support this contention, he has relied upon the authority reported as Lalit Kishore vs. Meeru Sharma and another 2010 (1) RCR (Civil) 10. In Lalit Kishore's case (Supra), application was filed by husband for medical examination of the wife for ascertaining her mental condition. The same was rejected by the Family Court at C.R. No. 7254 of 2009 -3- Jabalpur. The Civil Revision against that order of Family Court was also dismissed. However, the Hon'ble Apex Court set aside both the orders and ordered the examination of the wife by a Medical Board, observing that only the medical expert can narrate about the mental condition of the wife. In Sharda's case (Supra), also it has been held that there is no specific provision in the Hindu Marriage Act but the Court can order medical examination to ascertain the mental condition. The trial Court has exercised the jurisdiction vested in it and I see no reason to interfere in the said order. Consequently, the revision petition is without any merit and the same stands dismissed. ( K.C. Puri ) 31.3.2010 Judge chugh