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1995 Supreme(Kar) 352

Karnataka High Court
Judges : Krishna Moorthy,Kuranga
LEELAMMA - Appellant
Versus
GOVINDAPPA - Respondent
M. F. A. 1068 Of 1989
Decided On : 08/04/1995
Advocates Appeared :
S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR, S.SIDDAPPA, S.V.NARSIMHAN, S.V.RAGHAVACHAR

The plaintiff is entitled to file a second Suit for enhancement of maintenance in any other Court having jurisdiction over the subject matter and the present Suit before the City Civil Court, Bangalore, is maintainable.

Headnote:

MAINTENANCE - Jurisdiction - Section 25 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act - [Section 25] - The court held that the plaintiff is entitled to file a second Suit for enhancement of maintenance in any other Court having jurisdiction over the subject matter and the present Suit before the City Civil Court, Bangalore, is maintainable.

Fact of the Case:

The plaintiff, wife of the defendant, filed a Suit for enhancement of maintenance from Rs. 250/- to Rs. 1,000/- per mensum and for recovery of past maintenance. The Family Court dismissed the Suit stating it should have been filed in the court where the previous decree was passed.

Finding of the Court:

The court found that the plaintiff is entitled to file a second Suit for enhancement of maintenance in any other Court having jurisdiction over the subject matter and the present Suit before the City Civil Court, Bangalore, is maintainable.

Issues: The main issue was whether the Suit for enhancement of maintenance was maintainable in the Family Court.

Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the plaintiff is entitled to file a second Suit for enhancement of maintenance in any other Court having jurisdiction over the subject matter and the present Suit before the City Civil Court, Bangalore, is maintainable.

Final Decision: The dismissal of the Suit was set aside and the matter was remitted back to the Family Court for trying all the issues in the Suit on merit. The Appeal was allowed and the appellant/plaintiff was entitled to her costs from the defendant in the Court.

KRISHNA MOORTHY, J.

( 1 ) THE plaintiff who is the wife of the defendant is the appellant. The Suit was originally filed before the City Civil Judge, Bangalore, for enhancement of maintenance both past and future. That on the establishment of the Family Court, the Suit was transferred to the Family Court.

( 2 ) SHORTLY stated, the facts necessary for the disposal of the Appeal, are as follows: the plaintiff is the wife of the defendant. She filed a Suit as an indigent person before the munsiff Court, Kolar, in O. S. No. 409/71 claiming maintenance at the rate of Rs. 250/- per mensum towards maintenance and also for recovery of past maintenance of Rs. 4,500/ -. That suit was decreed on 3. 9. 1973. The defendant preferred an Appeal in R. A. No. 176/73 but it was also dismissed. The defendant preferred an Appeal in R. S. A. No. 233/76 before this Court and the said appeal was also dismissed. According to the plaintiff, the defendant has failed to comply with the decree for maintenance and she has filed an Execution Petition for realisation of the amount. It is her further case that, he has not paid maintenance from March, 1983. Reserving her right to recover the amount, the present Suit is filed for enhancement of the maintenance amount from rs. 250/- to Rs. 1,000/-and also for past maintenance at that rate for a period of three years from the date of institution of the Suit. The plaintiff has alleged in the plaint that the amount of Rs. 250/- fixed by a decree of the Court was on the basis of the income which the defendant was getting at the relevant time. It is further alleged that the cost of living has increased steeply and the amount of Rs. 250/- per mensum granted in the earlier Suit is insufficient for her maintenance. She requires Rs. 1,000/- per mensum for her maintenance in the changed circumstances. It is further alleged that the defendant is drawing more than Rs. 3,000/- per month now besides Rs. 1,000/- from his building by way of rents, at Kolar. Accordingly, the plaintiff has claimed enhanced maintenance at the rate of Rs. 1,000/- per month and has claimed past maintenance at that rate for a period of three years immediately preceding the Suit. Accordingly, she filed a Suit for recovery of enhanced past maintenance of Rs. 27,000/- and further maintenance of Rs. 750/- per mensum being the enhanced rate of maintenance.

( 3 ) THE defendant filed a written statement admitting the relationship of the plaintiff and has raised various contentions which are not relevant for the purpose of the disposal of this Appeal. He has also denied the claim of the plaintiff that she is entitled for enhanced maintenance both past and future. It is further contended by him that the present suit should have been filed in the court where the previous decree was passed and the Suit filed in the present Court is not maintainable.

( 4 ) ON the plea of the defendant, a preliminary issue seems to have been raised by the Family court, to which, the case was transferred, as to: "whether the suit filed by the plaintiff is maintainable?"

( 5 ) THE Family Court after considering the contentions raised by the learned Counsel on both the sides, came to the conclusion that the remedy of the plaintiff is to file another Suit for modification of the previous decree if there is any changed circumstances, in the very same court, which passed the previous decree. It was further held that the plaintiff, cannot re-agitate the same relief before another Court and if at all, she has to re-agitate her grievances, she has to approach the same Court where the previous decree was passed. Accordingly, it was held that the present Suit is not maintainable and consequently, dismissed the Suit. The Appeal is against the aforesaid dismissal of the Suit.

( 6 ) LEARNED Counsel for the appellant contended that the remedy of the plaintiff is to file a separate Suit for enhanced maintenance which she is entitled to under Section 25 of the Hindu adoptions and Maintenanc



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