Effective dates for paying maintenance in 125 crpc

best way is to change your lawyer. or ask the judge directly as the judgement is not clear to you

If at this stage we ask the judge for claryfy of dates defnitely court  will tell from 2007. 

Originally posted by : Sun Roy
	Sir, 1 of my friend is facing 125 and 498 and others. The court orders interim maintenance of Rs total 1800/-(1200+600) in july 2011. The case was filed in 2007. My friend was not able to pay the maintenance (execution) hence send to jail for 1 month and he has repeated to 3 times. what is the maximum punishment for non payment of maintenance. Opposite lawyer has file for execution of arrears from 2007 approximate Rs 1.25 lacs. However in the decision it has not written that whether maintenance start from 2007 or date of order in 2011. I am quoting here few part of the decision Having regard to the circumstances that petitioner no 1 is in criminal litigation against the respondent, I am of the view that her act of living away from respondent cant be treated unjustified at this stage. As no provisions has been made by respondent for the maintenance of petitioners despite their separation since ......03.2007., I am of the view that a prime facie case for grant of interim maintenance is made out in favour of the petitioners. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx During the course of argument, respondent submitted that he is presently working as a helper in commercial vehicle and he is earning only Rs 3000/- per month. However considering the fact the respondent is an able bodied person, I presume his income to be atleast Rs 4200/- per months per minimum wages act. He is accordingly directed to pay interim maintenance @Rs 1200/- per month to petioner no 1 and for her minor child@ Rs 600/- month. Respondent is directed to discharge the liability of arrears within two months from today in two equal instalments by way of money order in favour of the petitioner on or before 10th of each English calendar month. However the aforesaid order does not tantamount to be an expression on the merits of the case which shall be decided subsequently.             Put up for PE on ........Jan, 2012   Announced in the open court on 20th day of July 2011                                                                          MM/Mahila court. My friend is ready to some part of payment from 2011 however not sufficient amount to pay the arrears from 2007. So he is in jail from last 3 months. How much minimum payment that atleast he can released from jail. The above case was filed in 2007. What is the date from paying the maintenance from 2007 or july 2011. Kindly clarify. Our lawyer is not defending any points. Thanking you in advance.

From the date of filing the application of maintenance, maintenance is payable.  IF date of filiing is 1/1/2007 then from that date till next one year ie 1/1/2008.  Then again she [wife] has to give fresh application for IA.  and from that date new calculation.

If application not given by wife for second year, then no need of paying IA based on last year's order.  Remember each year IA is fixed.  Its not that once IA is fixed it is for lifetime.

First ask friend to change lawyer.  Such a useless lawyer your friend has hired.

Law points emerging out of your friend’s brief are as follows;

1. The Maintenance is payable from date of application. Only in case the MM is of view that the maintenance to be paid from date of Order she has to place reason in such (speaking) Order's. She is not bound to place date as law is very clear on maintenance under S. 125 CrPC.

2. For whatever reason the maintenance were not paid till date atleast a 'clarification' application should have been put much before (i.e. before Jan. 2012 NDOH as the Order seems to me is of late 2011 and in 2013 you are placing your friend's brief before us seeking suggestion !).

3. For maintenance arrears default maximum 1 month SI in jail is allowed as per Law and for each execution award default again 1 month is maximum imprisonment. Here Law does not specifies if 1 month means a MM is duty bound to announce full 1 month it could be even a week / fortnight as per pleadings of the advocate on larger public good policies and once a defaulter completes his 1 month sentence all previous defaults are waived off and only fresh accrual piles up for which anyhow in reference to case his wife might have succeeded in fresh execution awards.

4. Today maximum under trials relating to family law in pan Indian jails are defaulters in S. 125 CrPC cases and their social crimes were two; very late adjudication of IM Order by a jurisdiction Court and secondly their almost minimum wage act opined earnings by a Court and just because of these two crimes they are languishing in jails with no chance of parole or bail or release unless a NGO or compassionate professional takes up such cases.

What surprises me is to read the biasness of the Court; for awarding IM court sits for almost 4 years yet for its execution it is like you blink and you land up in jail whereas the spirit behind S. 125 CrPC is based on social justice and is a benevolent provision and not intent in making a husband criminal at the end of his such long stays in jail(s) now what will be left of the husband to earn a living - he has no company of wife r/w no company of child and is branded earning capacity that equals to Minimum Wage Act which is based on price index r/w inflation! [If you share with me his State then I can tell what is current minimum wage there which means today he is worth more in eyes of this MM / Sessions Court all by ideating in jail :-) ]

Such maintenance can be awarded from the date of the order, or, if so ordered, from the date

of the application for maintenance, as the case may be. For awarding maintenance from the date

of the application, express order is necessary. No special reasons, however, are required to be

recorded by the Court. In our Judgment, no such requirement can be read in sub section (l)

of Section 125 of the Code in absence of express provision to that effect.

Its a paragraph of 125 Crpc maintenance judjement. Kindly clarify the last para that maintenance from Date of order or date of application.