The Jharkhand High Court in its order dated March 1, 2024 has referred a maintenance case back to the Family Court, since the order was passed ex-parte without any income affidavit submitted by the wife.
A single judge bench emphasised that eventhough the order was passed ex-parte, the ‘Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities’ must be filed by both parties in all maintenance proceedings as per directions given by the Supreme Court in Rajnesh V Neha judgment.
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Case:
The wife in this case had filed for maintenance under Section 125 CrPC at the Family Court, Ramgarh in the year 2020.
In February 2022, learned Principal District Judge- cum-Family Judge, Ramgarh passed an ex-parte order against the petitioner husband directing him to pay Rs 5,000 per month to his wife and Rs 1,000 per month to his minor daughter until she gets married or gainfully employed. The husband was ordered to pay this monthly sum by the 10th of every succeeding month.
The husband has challenged this family court order in the High Court.
Submissions by Husband
The husband claimed that this order had been passed without his knowledge assuming his monthly income to be Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000. He informed the High Court that though he was a B. Tech Graduate, he was currently unemployed.
Arguments by Wife
The counsel for the wife argued that the petitioner deliberately did not join the proceedings at the Family Court. The counsel also added that the maintenance amount ordered to the wife was only a small amount.
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Jharkhand High Court
After going through evidences on record, a single bench judge Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary observed that the income affidavits of both parties had not been placed on record in the Family Court. Justice Choudhary said:
In the present case, even if the proceeding was ex-parte against the petitioner still the required affidavit was to be filed by the wife so as to find out her assets/liabilities/source of income etc.
This Court is of the considered view that the matter requires fresh consideration by the Court of learned Principal District Judge- cum- Family Judge, Ramgarh after complying with the directions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of “Rajnesh v. Neha” (Supra).
Accordingly, the matter was redirected back to the Family Court asking the parties to be present on March 18, 2024 along with their respective affidavits before the the learned Court of Principal District Judge – cum- Family Judge, Ramgarh.
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The Family Court was directed to pass a fresh order within three months, while the husband was directed to pay the current maintenance till the modification of the earlier order.
Subsequently, the criminal revision petition was disposed off.
DO WATCH:
Wife Must Submit Income Affidavit In Maintenance Case Under Section 125 CrPC | Voice For Men India
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READ ORDER | Family Court Cannot Pass Ex-Parte Maintenance Order U/s 125 CrPC Without Income Affidavit Of Wife: Jharkhand HC
— Voice For Men India (@voiceformenind) March 25, 2024
▪️Husband's income was assumed to be Rs 25-30k pm
▪️FC granted Rs 5k pm to wife, Rs 1k pm to daughter till marriage/employmenthttps://t.co/dHKygzywqY
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