Natural justice and sufficient cause required fresh notice before ex parte divorce proceedings could continue; decree unsustainable.

Fair play and natural justice required a fresh notice before the family court could proceed ex parte after the stay was vacated, because no fresh date had been fixed for appearance. The wife's distance from the court, limited legal assistance, and active participation in the proceedings supported sufficient cause for her non-appearance. Registered notices had returned unserved, there was no material of refusal of service, no effective personal service was attempted thereafter, and substituted service by newspaper publication was not justified on these facts. The ex parte divorce decree and the orders refusing to set it aside were therefore unsustainable, and the application to set aside the decree was liable to be allowed.

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Issues: Whether the ex parte divorce decree and the orders refusing to set it aside were liable to be quashed for want of sufficient notice and sufficient cause for the wife's non-appearance.

Analysis: The marriage petition had resumed after the stay was vacated without any fresh date being fixed for appearance. The wife had been permitted only limited legal assistance, was living at a distance, and had been contesting the proceedings. In these circumstances, the requirements of fair play and natural justice called for a fresh notice before the matter proceeded ex parte. The registered notices sent by the Family Court returned unserved, there was no material to show refusal of service, no effective attempt at personal service was made thereafter, and substituted service by newspaper publication was not justified on the facts.

Conclusion: The wife had sufficient cause for non-appearance, and the ex parte decree could not be sustained. The application to set aside the ex parte decree was liable to be allowed.

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