Thursday 17 July 2014

Delay in giving alimony violates rights, says SC



The Supreme Court has ruled that family courts cannot delay grant of maintenance to an estranged wife and said there was no escape for a husband from the onus of giving sustenance money to his wife despite soured relations.Dealing with a case where grant of maintenance had been delayed by nine years, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and V Gopala Gowda said, “This delay in adjudication by the family court is not only against human rights but also against the basic embodiment of dignity of an individual.“
When a marital dispute is pending before a family court, “the husband cannot take subterfuges to deprive her of the benefit of living with dignity“, said Justice Misra, writing the judg ment for the bench.
“Regard being had to the solemn pledge at the time of marriage and also in consonance with the statutory law that governs the field, it is obligation of the husband to see that the wife does not become a destitute, a beggar,“ the bench said.
It added that the husband could not be permitted to exploit the slow justice delivery system to deny what was legitimately due to the estranged wife for her and their children's sustenance.
“It is the sacrosanct duty to render financial support even if the husband is re quired to earn money with physical labour, if he is able bodied. There is no escape route unless there is an order from the court that the wife is not entitled to get maintenance from the husband...,“ it said.
Meena and Bhuwan Mohan Singh got married in 1997 and a son was born to them the next year. Meena later had to leave the matrimonial home. In 2002, she filed for maintenance of Rs 6,000 before a court in Jaipur. Nine years later, the family court granted her a monthly maintenance of Rs 2,500 and her son Rs 1,500.



Source::: The Times of India, 17.07.2014, p.6,  https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6579410692213101445#editor/target=post;postID=2794426168793356786

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