Maintenance
shrishriml
(Querist) 13 March 2018
This query is : Resolved
i am living in joint property in the name of my husband and me alongwith my 5 year old daughter and senior citizen parents. I have been paying the EMI of this house for last 2 years since i separated from husband.
though the DV court has ordered my husband to pay monthly amount he has not been paying the same. arrears are now for almost a year. The courts are not taking any action against him.
Question:
My father has been bearing all the expenses for household since i am not able to manage EMI and son s expenses etc in my salary.
Since my parents are staying with me and the additional expenses of me and my kid is also becoming a burden for them, can they rent out their vacant flat in order to get some additional income for monthly expenses? It is my father s self acquired property. Can my husband use it in court to reduce maintenance?
Vijay Raj Mahajan
(Expert) 13 March 2018
No, property of your father and how it's being used is not the concern of your husband. He is supposed to provide maintenance for you and your son and provide place of residence which he's avoiding inspite of court order. Your legal responsibility is not of your father but if he's taking up as his moral responsibility that has nothing to do with your husband. Get the order of execution against the husband by arresting him and sending to jail till he pay all the due amount of maintenance.
Guest
(Expert) 13 March 2018
Your husband has no right to interfere with the affairs of your father in dealing with his own property in any manner, he likes. That cannot affect the maintenance charges for you as may be due from your husband. He cannot deny his liability of maintenance as per law.
Ms.Usha Kapoor
(Expert) 13 March 2018
I agree with Dhinghra JI. Of course if your husband neglects paying arrears of maintenance for you includingr his daughter he maybe jailed till he coughs up their maintenance.
shrishriml
(Querist) 13 March 2018
Thank you experts for your feedback. I have another query. We are a huge group of many single mothers and all of us more or less face same issue. Maintenance orders in first place take more than a year to be ordered. after that for months together the husbands dont pay or keep filing appeals thus exhausting the woman financially. atleast my case am working there are so many frustrated women who for almost 2 years do not get any help from the husband who has abandoned wife and kids and is enjoying himself. This is trend seen in all courts in india where there seem to be many legal provisions itself or delays for husbands to escape paying and keep torturing the wife.
We as a group wanted to know what can be done at a higher level like Supreme Court or writing to NCW to have some guidelines issued to lower and appellate courts when dealing with maintenance petitions/ appeals that are filed without paying a single rupee?
Vijay Raj Mahajan
(Expert) 13 March 2018
Dealing with maintenance petition is something different from execution of maintenance order. The urgency in deciding the maintenance petition or interim maintenance is always followed by trial court. However the execution process delayed by the wives themselves by waiting for so many months and years which they should get it done as soon as possible, within shortest period.
Guest
(Expert) 13 March 2018
I hope Shri Vijay Raj Mahajan would like to agree with me that not being aware of the processes of law, wives cannot be blamed for delay in getting maintenance order executed. In my views, those lawyers can be squarely blamed with non-execution of orders of maintenance, who just feel their job to have ended just by getting the interim order or the decree for maintenance. If not included their fee for execution process with the main case, at least they should let their women clients know the further required course of action or process, if a husband does not start paying the ordered amount for maintenance to his wife..
Guest
(Expert) 13 March 2018
The querist may request her lawyer to get the order of maintenance executed without any further delay, if her husband is not paying the fixed amount.
Vijay Raj Mahajan
(Expert) 13 March 2018
Yes I agree with Shri Dhingra but if we ourselves practising lawyers/advocates start blaming those lawyers/advocates who are dealing with the maintenance petitions for wives not informing them about execution process, then bunch of those few come out sucking our blood. I have seen practising advocates/lawyers here in this forum giving all sort of wrong legal information to general public and when they are pointed out they come out abusing those who find fault in their suggestions. To inform the petitioner/wife that not only filling maintenance petition but even getting the execution of the order of the court will be included in the fee of the lawyer/advocate should be mandatory. The querist if want to help needy wives like herself should bring to their notice that the filling of maintenance petition is not enough the execution of the maintenance order should also be made clear with the lawyer/advocate dealing their case.
shrishriml
(Querist) 13 March 2018
In my case maintenance order took around 9 months, immediately husband filed an appeal. Lower court refused to execute saying wife is working. Appeal is dismissed, still judge is not executing the order. Lawyer has done everything necessary. Ideally during appeal there should have been provision to ask him to deposit arrears. This is same or worst scenario in other cases. Cant the higher courts set some guidelines on this? What can we women as a group do to solve this issue? Eveen nonworking wives do not get maintenance in less than 6 months?
Guest
(Expert) 13 March 2018
As a querist, you should have mentioned the full facts about appeal and its ground. Making a mention of non-receipt of maintenance without any background did not bear any logic. Half baked information often lead to wrong solutions, even by the most experienced lawyers.
Further, High Courts of Supreme Court cannot write law. They can interpret the law and decide on that basis. So, you should not have expected the higher courts to set any guideline, as against the set process of law. Ideals for the courts to observe are not led by individual perceptions. They are bound by the set process of law.
shrishriml
(Querist) 13 March 2018
Does the law say that execution can be delayed even when there is no stay order if the wife is working? I have a court order which says this in reply to our execution application. my husband s appeal has been dismissed. Does law say that woman must be made to wait for 2 years for maintenance and till then live at mercy of other people? Who is monitoring this delay? Sad state of affairs in this country when experienced lawyers on this forum also have no solution and cannot give any guidance to women at large. Filing tonnes of cases and applications is not a solution for women who are already having financial crunch. A standard law needs to be put in place just as they have for avoiding misuse of 498a.
Vijay Raj Mahajan
(Expert) 13 March 2018
After the dismissal of appeal and if no further appeal filled, a formal application for execution should be moved by your lawyer and seek trial court order on the application.
Why the Family Court judge not taking step for execution because there is no formal application for the same before him.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 13 March 2018
you have been given best possible advise based on the given facts.
Dr J C Vashista
(Expert) 14 March 2018
Very well analysed and advised by experts, I fully agree and appreciate their acumen.
Nothing more to add.
