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Showing contexts for: only litigation expenses in Ram Swaroop vs Janak W/O. Ram Swaroop on 5 May, 1972Matching Fragments
1. Ram Sarup appellant filed a petition under Section 10 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. This petition was resisted by the respondent wife and was dismissed by the learned Senior Sub-Judge., Amritsar vide his order dated 8-3-1966. It is against this decree that the appellant has filed this appeal.
2. The respondent-wife claimed maintenance pendente lite and litigation expenses before this court and P. D. Sharma J., (as he then was) vide his order dated 14-12-1966, ordered that Smt. Janak respondent be paid maintenance allowance at the rate of Rs. 40/-per mensem from the date of her application in addition to Rs. 200/-as litigation expenses. It was ordered that the maintenance allowance and the litigation expenses should be paid within two months from that date. This order of this Court has not been complied with.
3. The case came up before me on 11-11-1971 when Mr. Aggarwal the learned counsel for the respondent, pointed out that the appellant had not paid the litigation expenses and the maintenance allowance as ordered by this court. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, I ordered that the appellant should pay the arrears of maintenance and the litigation expenses upto date till 13-12-1971 to the respondent-wife and in case he failed to pay the said arrears, it will be open to the counsel for the respondent to contend that the appeal be dismissed. This order of mine in fact made the hearing of the appeal conditional on the payment of the arrears of maintenance and the litigation expenses.
4. It is admitted by Mr. Roop Chand, the learned counsel for the appellant, that till today no maintenance allowance or the litigation expenses, as directed by this Court have been paid to the respondent by the appellant. It is, therefore, contended by Mr. Aggarwal, the learned counsel for the respondent, that the appeal filed by the husband appellant be dismissed as he has filed to comply with the conditional order passed by this court. On the other hand, Mr. Roop Chand, the learned counsel for the appellant contended that the hearing of the appeal be only deferred till the payment of such expenses, and it should not be dismissed as this Court has no power to pass such an order.
In my view, when conditional orders are passed by this Court, the inherent power vested under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure can be exercised in order to see that the said orders are complied with. There is no specific procedure for the compliance of the said order either under the Hindu Marriage Act or in the Civil Procedure Code and there is no other provisions forbidding the same course being adopted. A similar matter came up for consideration before a Division Bench of this Court in a case reported in Smt. Malkan Rani v. Krishan Kumar, AIR 1961 Punj 42. In that case, the trial court directed the husband, who was the petitioner in that case, to pay the wife maintenance pendente lite and litigation expenses but the said order was not complied with. The wife then made an application before the trial court that the proceedings be stayed till the said order was complied with. That application was rejected by the trial court. On appeal filed in this court, the case was referred to the Division Bench and the appeal was accepted with costs. It was held that keeping in view the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, it is obvious that the realisation of the amount as ordered under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act by taking execution proceedings in accordance with the provisions of the code of Civil Procedure must plunge the indigent spouse into another lengthy and unpleasant litigation and moreover, the matrimonial Court will find it difficult, if not impossible, to decide the case satisfactorily or expeditiously, which will result in denial of justice to the person in whose favour the order under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act has been passed.