Madhya Pradesh High Court
Ankita vs Darshan on 26 March, 2021
Equivalent citations: AIRONLINE 2021 MP 614
Author: Vivek Rusia
Bench: Vivek Rusia
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CRR Nos. 1189/2020, 1190/2020 & 174/2021
HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH : BENCH AT INDORE
(SINGLE BENCH : HON'BLE Mr. JUSTICE VIVEK RUSIA)
CRR No. 1189 of 2020
(Darshan Yadav. V/s. Ankita Yadav)
CRR No. 1190 of 2020
(Darshan Yadav. V/s. Ankita Yadav)
CRR No. 174 of 2021
( Ankita Yadav V/s. Darshan Yadav.)
Date: 26.03.2021 :
Shri Umesh Manshore learned counsel for the applicant -
husband in Cr. Revision Nos. 1189/2020 and 1190/2020.
Shri A.S. Rathore, learned counsel for the respondent-wife
in Cr. Revision No. 174/2021.
With the consent of learned counsel for the parties, heard
finally.
ORDER
Cr. Revision No.1189/2020 :
Applicant - husband has filed the present revision u/s. 19(4) of the Family Courts Act r/w. Section 97 of the Cr.P.C. against the order dated 19.2.2020 passed by Family Court Ujjain in MJC No.270/2019 whereby the application for stay of recovery proceedings has been rejected and he has been directed to deposit the entire amount of maintenance within 15 days.
Cr. Revision No. 1190/2020 :
Applicant - husband has filed the present revision u/s. 19(4) of the Family Courts Act r/w. 97 of the Cr.P.C. against the order dated 19.2.2020 passed by the Family Court Ujjain in MJC No.98/2019 whereby the learned Judge has granted interim maintenance of Rs.15,000/- per month to the respondent-wife.
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CRR Nos. 1189/2020, 1190/2020 & 174/2021 Cr. Revision No.174/2021 :
Respondent - wife has filed the present revision u/s. 19(4) of the Family Courts Act r/w. section 401 of the Cr.P.C. against the order dated 19.2.2020 passed by the Family Court Ujjain, for enhancement of the interim maintenance amount from Rs.15,000/- per month to Rs.30,000/- per month.
Facts of the case -
1. Applicant and respondent are husband and wife by virtue of their marriage solemnized on 14.12.2017 under Hindu customs and rituals at Indore. According to the wife, at the time of marriage, as per the capacity, sufficient amount of household articles, cash, gold, etc. were given, but after the marriage, the in-laws and husband have started taunting her for less dowry. The husband used to doubt her character.
She was subjected to mental cruelty by all the family members She has also alleged that her husband is having a girlfriend whom he used to call late at night through video calling. All of them conspired so that she would leave the matrimonial house. To protect her married life she remained silent for quite some time but she left the matrimonial house and came to the house of the parents. Since her husband has demanded Rs.10.00 Lakhs hence she has lodged the report in the Police Station Nagjhiri, Ujjain.
2. As the applicant: Husband has deserted her without any reason and she had no source of income, therefore, she has filed an application u/s. 125 of the Cr.P.C. claiming Rs.40,000/- per month as maintenance. According to non-applicant, he husband is working as an Advisory System Analyst in the IBM Company and getting salary @ Rs.1.00 Lakh per month and by way of part-time work, earning Rs.50,000/- per month, therefore, he is capable to give maintenance @ Rs.40,000/- per month to her. Along with the application for maintenance, the wife has also applied to interim maintenance during the pendency of the
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CRR Nos. 1189/2020, 1190/2020 & 174/2021 proceedings.
3. The husband appeared and filed the reply denying the averments made in the applications by submitting that his monthly salary is not more than Rs.34,000/- and he is not liable to give maintenance amount to his wife because the wife herself has left the house at Pune without any valid reason, therefore, at her instance, the application u/s. 125 of Cr.P.C. is not maintainable. He has further submitted that he has taken a loan and for repayment of the same, EMI of Rs.20,000/- is being deducted from his salary. He has also submitted that the wife is well qualified, she is having a Degree of MCA ,she can also earn her livelihood, therefore, she cannot claim dependency on the income of her husband.
4. Learned Family Court has prima facie examined the pleadings and the evidence came on record and vide order dated 19.2.2020 assessed the amount of interim maintenance at Rs.15,000/- and held that if the wife is getting any other amount under any other enactment, the same is liable to be set off in Rs.15,000/- per month.
5. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid order dated 19.2.2020, the wife, as well as husband both, have filed the present two Criminal Revision. The husband is dissatisfied with the amount of interim maintenance of Rs.15,000/- and according to him. it is on the higher side, whereas according to the wife, the amount of Rs.15,000/- is on the lower side as compared to the income of the husband. Since the husband has not deposited the amount of interim maintenance before the Court, therefore, she has initiated the execution proceedings which are challenged by way of CRR No.1189/2020.
6. Shri Umesh Manshore, learned counsel appearing for the applicant - husband submits that the wife has purposely given the incorrect address of applicant - husband in order to avoid the service to him and obtained an ex-parte order dated 9.8.2019 for payment of interim maintenance @ Rs.30,000/- per month. Thereafter, the husband
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CRR Nos. 1189/2020, 1190/2020 & 174/2021 appeared and applied for quashment of the ex-parte order, and the ex- parte order was quashed by the learned Family Judge. He further submits that the applicant has filed photographs and CCTV footage to show that the wife herself left the house along with her father. The applicant - husband or his parents never forced her to leave the house and live with her parents, therefore, she is not entitled to get the maintenance. Hence, from the very beginning the intention of the respondent - wife is only to extract the money and harass the husband.
7. On the other hand, Shri A.S. Rathore, learned counsel appearing for respondent-wife, submits that the applicant husband is repaying the loan amount by way of EMI @ Rs.22,000/- per month which shows that his salary is in lakhs of rupees otherwise he would not have got such a high loan. His salary is more than Rs.1.00 Lakh, therefore, the interim maintenance amount of Rs.15,000/- is on the lower side. The standard of living of the deserted wife should be at par with the standard of living of the husband, hence she entitled to get the maintenance according to the income of the husband.
I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
8. Whether the income of the applicant - husband is Rs.1.00 Lakh or Rs.34,000/-pm is a matter of evidence . As on today, the salary certificates are not before the Court. Since the husband is working as an Advisory System Analyst in IBM Company, therefore, he must be getting a handsome salary so that he can maintain his wife. After desertion, the wife is residing at Ujjain which is a District place and as per the status of the applicant - husband, she is also entitled to live with the same standard whch she was living before separation from her husband. Therefore, an amount of Rs.15,000/- as interim maintenance cannot be said to be on the higher side or the lower side. The wife is also an educated lady having MCA Degree and if she feels that the amount of interim maintenance is not sufficient for her, she can also
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CRR Nos. 1189/2020, 1190/2020 & 174/2021 make efforts to earn for herself. She cannot claim complete dependency on the income of the husband. Therefore, the Criminal Revision filed by the applicant - the husband seeking a reduction in the amount of interim maintenance and the criminal Revision filed by respondent- wife seeking enhancement of the amount of interim maintenance are hereby dismissed.
9. So far as the execution of the order of maintenance passed on 19.2.2020 is concerned, admittedly the husband is liable to pay the interim maintenance to his wife from the date of the order i.e. 19.2.2020. Vide order dated 19.2.2020 learned family judge has fixed interim maintenance @ Rs.15,000/- pm from the date of the order. The wife has filed the execution proceedings calculating the interim maintenance from the date of the ex-parte order i.e. 9.8.2019 which has already been quashed because of the improper service on a wrong address. Since the ex-parte order has already been set aside and fresh order dated 19.2.2020 has been passed, therefore, the respondent-wife is entitled to the interim maintenance from the date of order i.e. 19.2.2020 and the applicant - husband is directed to deposit the entire arrears of interim maintenance from 19.2.2020 @ Rs.15,000/- per month within a period of four weeks from today.
10. With the aforesaid, Cr. Revision No. 1189/2020 is allowed and Criminal Revision No. 1190/2020 filed by the applicant - husband and Cr. Revision No.174/2021 filed by the respondent - wife, are dismissed. Let a photocopy of this order be retained in each connected revision.
( VIVEK RUSIA ) JUDGE Alok/-
Digitally signed by Alok GargavDate: 2021.03.31 15:33:07 +05'30'