An application for interim maintenance under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act is deemed abandoned if the applicant fails to pay the process fee for issuing notice to the husband and fails to make any further attempts to have the application heard.

( 1 ) THIS is, indeed, an odd petition. The wife commenced proceedings for divorce and obtained an ex-parte decree. She now wants to have that judgment revised, though it is in her favour. Nat that she seeks reversal of the decree. Her complaint is that the judgment impliedly rejects her application for incerirn maintenance, and it is in that respect that she is aggrieved. The argument will become mare comprehensible after I state the facts.

( 2 ) ON 18th January 1979, the wife filed a petition for divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion by her husband. Along with the petition, she filed an application under section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act for inaintenance pendente lite for herself and her infant daughter, and expenses of the proceedings. On 22nd January 1979, the Additional District Judge made an order that the petition be registered and notice be issued to the respondent for 1st March 1979. Nothing was said about the application for interim maintenance. A process fee of Rs. 1. 50 had already been filed with the petition. This is the fee prescribed for issuing notice of a petition or application in the District Courts. Although on the process fee form it was stated that the purpose of filing the process fee was Service of summons of position on respondent along with Section 24 application , notice could be issued either of the position or the application and not both because only a single process fee had been filed. No further process fee was filed after the order that notice should issue. In these circumstances, as was to be expected, only notice of the main proceeding, i. e. the petition, Was is issued to the husband. The application lay unattended.

( 3 ) ON 1st March 1979 it was reported that the husband had not been served as he had gone out of India. The judge ordered notice to issue again for 9th April 1979, and directed the wife to furnish the address of the husband. The process fee, if any, filed pursuant to this order does not appear to be on record.

( 4 ) ON 9th April 1979, the case was transferred to another Additional District Judge. He made an order on the same date directing notice to issue to the husband for 17th May 1979. The wife was again required to furnish the complete address of the husband and file the process fee. Again, she filed a process fee of only Rs. 1. 50. On the process fee form the purpose was stated to be: service on respondent by registered AD. as he is a resident of New York . Since, as before, the process fee paid was sufficient only for a single process, notice was sent only of the petition and not the application.

( 5 ) BY 17th May 1979, the return as to service was not received. Notice was ordered to issue again for 5th July 1979. The wife again filed a. single process fee Rs. 1. 50. On the process fee form it was merely said : For notice to the respondent . So, again, notice went only of the petition.

( 6 ) ON 5th July 1979, the return as to service was again not received, and, hence, further orders were deferred till 24th July 1979. On this latter date, the case was transferred to yet another Additional District Judge. He ordered notice to issue again for 13th September 1979, both in the ordinary way and by registered post, and directed the wife to file two copies of petition . He made no reference to the application. The wife again filed a single process fee of Rs. 1. 50 for service of the respondent .

( 7 ) ON 13th September 1979, the presiding officer was on leave and the matter was deferred to 22nd September 1979. On this deferred date, notice was ordered to be issued again 16th November 1979 and the direction to the wife to file two copies of petition was repeated. As before, nothing was said about the application. Again, the wife filed a single process fee of Rs. 1. 50. This time there was a Note on the process fee form : 2 copies of plaint and two copies of application u/s 24 attached . But) since only one process fee was paid, notice was sent