The husband plaintiff petitioned for divorce on the ground of cruelty after his wife became pregnant one month after their marriage and had the fetus aborted at a government-approved pregnancy termination centre without telling him of either the pregnancy or the abortion. The Court granted the petition, holding that the abortion of a fetus during the first pregnancy by a deliberate act without the husband's consent constitutes cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955. It also stated that if one party to a marriage deliberately avoids procreation without the consent of the other spouse, the very purpose of the marriage is frustrated.
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