ADJETEY AND ANOTHER vs. ADJETEY [1973]DLHC2352

Date	1973-12-21
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1973]DLHC2352

SARKODEE J.

NO APPEARANCE FOR THE PETITIONER.

E. M. A. ABLORH FOR THE RESPONDENT.

[1973]DLHC2352
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >ADJETEY AND ANOTHER <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>ADJETEY <o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT,
ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[1973]
2 GLR 216<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

DATE:
21 DECEMBER 1972.<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

NO APPEARANCE FOR THE PETITIONER.<o:p></o:p>

E. M. A. ABLORH FOR THE RESPONDENT.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

SARKODEE J.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF SARKODEE J.<o:p></o:p>The
petitioner Elizabeth Adjetey then a spinster and called Elizabeth Adwoa
Piramang was married to Timothy Adjei Adjetey, the respondent, on 18 May 1966
at the marriage registry, Islington, London, England. The petitioner and the
respondent are both Ghanaians. There is no child of the marriage.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Since
filing the petition, and the issue of the registrar’s certificate subsequently,
the petitioner has taken no steps to prosecute the case. The case was fixed for
hearing on 9 August 1972 and adjourned three times on each occasion because the
petitioner and her counsel were absent. The case was finally heard on 16
November 1972 in the absence of the petitioner, the respondent being permitted
to prove his cross-petition. I do not think the petitioner has shown sufficient
interest in prosecuting the petition and I accordingly dismiss same. In his
cross-prayer the respondent alleged desertion and adultery committed by the
petitioner with two persons, T.D. Baffoe and David Larbie. He stated further
that by reason of the said desertion and adultery the marriage has broken down
beyond reconciliation and prayed that it be dissolved.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>In 1967
the petitioner and the respondent lived together in a rented house at Kanda
estate. Whilst there the respondent put up his own house at Teshie. When the
building was nearly completed the respondent and the petitioner decided to
leave Kanda to live in the new house at Teshie. On the day they moved the
petitioner packed her belongings in one car and the respondent in another. They
left the house almost at the same time but the petitioner never arrived at the
destination, the<o:p></o:p>Teshie
house, till after two months when her uncle took her to the respondent at
Teshie. She remained in the house for some three months and disappeared again.
With the assistance of the petitioner’s father the respondent unsuccessfully
looked for the petitioner. Later the husband received information about his
wife as a result of which he traced her to the house of T.D. Baffoe at Kanda
estate. Since the wife left she has not returned to the matrimonial home.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Adultery
must be proved to the satisfaction of the court and even though the evidence
need not reach certainty as required in criminal proceedings it must carry a
high degree of probability.<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">“Direct
evidence of adultery is rare. In nearly every case the fact of adultery is
inferred from circumstances which by fair and necessary inference lead to that
conclusion. There must be proof of disposition and opportunity for committing
adultery; but the conjunction of strong inclination with evidence of
opportunity does not lead to an irrebuttable presumption that adultery has been
committed; and likewise the Court is not bound to infer adultery from evidence
of opportunity alone.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>(See
Halsbury’s Laws of England (3rd ed.), Vol. 12, pp. 237-238, para. 446.)<o:p></o:p>When the
respondent (the husband) was informed of where he could find his wife he,
accompanied by on</main>