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(Guest)

Whether interim maintenance can be denied to wife on ground

Whether interim maintenance can be denied to wife on ground of non consummation of marriage?

 
 The expression used under S.24 is 'pendente

lite' which means pending litigation or during litigation,

that is for a period from the date of commencement of

litigation till it is concluded. This principle of temporary

alimony is a concept of economic guardianship to administer

justice either to the wife or to the husband, which is

extended to support either of them during the pendency

of the proceeding alone. Analysing the Section, it is found

that the right of equality is protected by the parliament

and the question of validity of the marriage will not be a

ground for denying such relief to wife or husband.

Therefore, we conclude that an application for pendente


lite maintenance can be filed in any proceedings under the

Hindu Marriage Act 1955 (Sections 9 to 13) and any

application made after disposal of the main petition has no

independent existence. In short, the primary responsibility

of the Family Court is that before passing the decree in

the main petition, it has to dispose of the interim

maintenance application under Section 24 of the Act

exercising its discretionary powers. While exercising such

discretionary power, the Court has to follow sound judicial

principles and has to consider the economic condition of

both parties. Here, the main petition is pending in the

Family Court, Thiruvananthapuram.         While so, the

observation of the Family Court that petition for

maintenance pendente lite cannot be considered at this

stage, since the respondent contended that there is no

consummation of marriage, is per-se illegal and absolutely


unsustainable. An application pending under Section 12 is

not a ground to refuse interim maintenance to the wife.

Therefore, Ext.P4 order is liable to be set aside.
 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

                              PRESENT:

               THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE V.K.MOHANAN
                                  &
                THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.D.RAJAN

     WEDNESDAY, THE 25TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 2015/

                    OP (FC).No. 502 of 2014 (R)
                    ----------------------------

       R.C.SHEEJAKUMARI 
Vs
       PRAVEEN.S.R.
  Citation;AIR 2015 kerala 135    


Learning

 2 Replies

Jayashree Hariharan (Advocate)     05 June 2015

Thank you

 

bhrvi   05 June 2015

nice it may help other member


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