Court No. - 3
Case :- FIRST APPEAL No. - 294 of 2018 Appellant :- Anuj Kumar Respondent :- Smt. Pooja Counsel for Appellant :- Yogesh Kumar
Hon'ble Pankaj Mithal,J. Hon'ble Rajiv Joshi,J.
The appellant husband has preferred this appeal under Section 19 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 against the order dated 31.03.2018 passed by the family court on an application filed under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the Act).
The Tribunal by the impugned order has fixed Rs.3000/- per month as pendente lite maintenance and has directed to make a lump sum payment of Rs.3000/- as litigation expenses.
The argument of learned counsel for the appellant husband is that he is an unemployed and has no means to make the above payment.
A bare reading of the impugned order reveals that even the wife has no means to maintain herself.
In such a situation, when the fact of marriage is not disputed it is obligatory upon the husband to maintain the wife by any means.
The Award of Rs.3000/-pm as pendente lite maintenance is the bare minimum for a person to survive in these hard days and therefore, irrespective of the fact that the appellant husband is not having any independent income, he is liable to maintain the wife and to pay Rs.3000/- per month during the pendency of the litigation so that the wife may maintain herself.
In these circumstances, we do not find any reason to interfere with the order impugned which is of a summary nature subject to final decision of the suit on the basis of the evidence adduced by the parties.
Accordingly, appeal is dismissed with the direction to the family court to proceed and decide the suit expeditiously keeping in mind the mandate of Section 21-B of the Act.
Order Date :- 24.4.2018 piyush