Interim maintenance under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act should be awarded from the date of filing the application, and the court must properly assess both parties' financial situations.

JUDGMENT :

Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee , J.

1.Assailing order dated 12th December, 2023 passed in connection with Misc. Case no. 05 of 2023 under Section 24 of Hindu marriage Act, 1955, arising out of Matrimonial Suit no. 146 of 2018 passed by Additional District Judge, 2nd Court Siliguri, present Application has been preferred. By the order impugned learned Court below passed an order of alimony pendent lite of Rs. 30,000/- from the date of appearance of the petitioner in favour of wife/opposite party herein. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that the petitioner and the opposite party herein were wedded in accordance to law on 02.05.2014 and thereafter the said marriage was consummated. However the matrimonial pursuit did not last long. It is further stated by the petitioner that within 27 days of the solemnization of the said marriage, opposite party herein voluntarily left her matrimonial house without any intimation on 29th May, 2014. Along with her she also carried away all the gold ornaments, personal belongings, that were provided to her in the marriage, from the family of the petitioner.

2. The petitioner further submits that he lodged missing diary and thereafter he also discovered from the mobile phone of the opposite party that she was earlier married with one Prabin Agarwala, hailing from Biratnagar, Nepal on 23rd January, 2013 and suppressing the said marriage, she had married the petitioner for the second time without dissolving the earlier one. Petitioner initiated criminal proceeding under Section 494/420/120B of IPC and the charge sheet has also been submitted in the said case. The petitioner herein filed a suit for declaration of marriage as void but said suit was dismissed exparte on the ground of want of jurisdiction. The petitioner herein thereafter filed present Matrimonial Suit, i.e. Mat Suit No. 146 of 2018 under Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act seeking for a declaration that the marriage between the parties is void ad initio.

3. In the said proceeding the opposite party herein/wife appeared and filed an application under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act which is registered as Misc. Case No. 5 of 2023. As per direction of the Court both the parties filed affidavit of assets and liabilities and the Court below by the impugned order directed the petitioner to pay alimony pendent lite at the rate as stated above.

4. Mr. Saha, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submits that the respondent/wife kept pestering the purported marriage between the petitioner and herself for ulterior monetary gain after 10 years of her leaving matrimonial house and also when the petitioner has filed the present suit for declaring the marriage as nullity. It is further alleged that the Court below did not pay any serious heed into it nor carried out any effective examination thereof in passing of the order impugned. He further submits even the present matrimonial suit was filed in the year 2019 and after 4 years, she has filed the present application under Section 24, which clearly suggests that she is not at all serious in her claim of maintenance and she is capable enough to maintain herself. Moreover petitioner is not the husband of opposite party in view of section 5(1) (i) of the Hindu Marriage Act and as such petitioner is not legally obliged to maintain the opposite party. Mr. Saha further contended that the court below did not consider the income of petitioner/husband and also did not consider that the wife/opposite party voluntarily left her matrimonial house. Above all wife/opposite party is not remediless as she is entitled to claim maintenance from husband of her first marriage which is still subsisting. Relying upon a judgment reported in (1998) 8 SCC 447 (Santosh Vs. Naresh Pal) petitioner contended that in such proceeding, the court is expected to pass appropriate order after being prima facie satisfied about the marital status of the parties. In support of his contention that second wife is