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2018 Supreme(Del) 3107

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI
I.S. MEHTA, J.
Reema Salkan - Appellant
Versus
Sumer Singh Salkan - Respondent
CRL.REV.P. No. 204 of 2015 and CRL.M.A. No. 4961, 4963, 5608, 9820 of 2015, 8145 of 2016, 12393 of 2016
Decided On : 31-05-2018

Advocates Appeared:
For the Petitioners:R.P. Vats, Advocate
For the Respondents:Ms. Malvika Rajkotia, Ms. Arpita Rai and Ms. Akriti Tyagi, Advocates.

Headnote:

MAINTENANCE - WIFE - ENTITLEMENT - ABLE-BODIED HUSBAND - DUTY TO MAINTAIN WIFE - WIFE UNABLE TO MAINTAIN HERSELF - PERSONAL LAW ARISING OUT OF MARITAL STATUS - NOT CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION - HUSBAND'S PLEA OF UNEMPLOYMENT - NO ANSWER - HUSBAND BOUND TO EARN AND MAINTAIN WIFE - QUANTUM OF MAINTENANCE - WIFE ENTITLED TO MAINTENANCE AS PER STATUS OF RESPECTABLE FAMILY - HUSBAND ABLE-BODIED AND HIGHLY QUALIFIED - MINIMUM WAGE IN DELHI - WIFE ENTITLED TO HALF OF MINIMUM WAGE AS MAINTENANCE.

Fact of the Case:

Petitioner-wife filed a petition under Section 125 Cr.P.C. for grant of maintenance from her husband-respondent. The respondent denied the allegations of cruelty and maltreatment and claimed that the petitioner had deserted him. The trial court dismissed the petition, holding that the petitioner was not entitled to maintenance as she had refused to join the matrimonial home in Canada and was living separately with consent. The petitioner challenged the order in revision.

Finding of the Court:

The court held that the petitioner was entitled to maintenance from her husband as she was unable to maintain herself and the respondent was an able-bodied person with a duty to maintain his wife. The court set aside the impugned order to the extent of non-granting maintenance in favor of the petitioner from the date the respondent claimed to have lost his job and upheld the impugned maintenance in favor of the petitioner till that date. The court directed the respondent to pay maintenance amount of Rs. 9,000/- per month from the date he claimed to have lost his job onwards.

Issues: Whether the petitioner-wife is entitled to maintenance from her husband-respondent under Section 125 Cr.P.C.

Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the husband being an able-bodied person is duty bound to maintain his wife who is unable to maintain herself under the personal law arising out of the marital status and is not under contractual obligation. The court observed that the husband cannot take subterfuges to deprive her of the benefit of living with dignity and that it is his sacrosanct duty to render financial support even if he is required to earn money with physical labor, if he is able-bodied.

Final Decision: The court allowed the revision petition and directed the respondent to pay maintenance amount of Rs. 9,000/- per month from the date he claimed to have lost his job onwards.

JUDGMENT

I.S. MEHTA, J.

1. Instant revision petition is preferred by the petitioner- Reema Salkan under Sections 397/401 Cr. P. C. read with Section 482 Cr. P. C. and Section 19 of the Family Court Act, 1984 against the impugned order dated 28. 01. 2015 passed by the learned Additional Principal Judge, Family Courts North, Rohini, Delhi in Petition No. 363/14 Unique Case I.D. No. 02404R101992003 titled as Reema Salkan vs. Sumer Singh Salkan.

2. It is alleged in the maintenance petition dated 16.07.2002 that the petitioner got married with respondent no. 1 as per the Hindu rites and ceremonies on 24.03.2002 at Infantry Hostel, Delhi Cantonment, Delhi and the initial source of parties contact was on the basis of newspaper advertisement.

3. It is further alleged that at the time of rukka ceremonies it was disclosed that the respondent is the permanent resident of Canada and he would take the petitioner on 28. 03. 2002 to Canada on a tourist visa. The father of the respondent and his other family member assured the petitioner that they would arrange for the petitioner's visa and on 15. 03. 2002 the father of the respondent called the parents of the petitioner to Meerut and asked for Rs. 1 lakh (Rs. 55,000/- for petitioner's return ticket to Canada and Rs. 45,000/- for her subsequent immigration to Canada). They also demanded Rs. 1 lakh from the parents of the petitioner for household goods. Consequently, the parents of the petitioner gave Rs. 2 lakh to the respondent's family apart from other gifts.

4. The marriage of the petitioner and respondent no. 1 was solemnized on 24. 03. 2002 at the Radisson Hotel in Delhi. The petitioner remained at Meerut U. P. from 25. 06. 2002 till 14. 07. 2002 after the marriage the respondent's sister and mother-in-law started taunting the petitioner for bringing insufficient dowry and the mother-in-law took all the cash and gift items. On 28.03.2002, the sister of the respondent took all the stridhan which was given on marriage and her mother-in-law took all jewellery items with her. On 28.03.2002, the respondent No. 1 left the petitioner at the airport in Delhi, from where the brother and sister took her to parental home. On 12.06.2002, when the respondent submitted petitioner's immigration application in Canada, the petitioner informed the father of the respondent and other family members about her desire to return to Meerut and they told her that they would pick her up from Delhi on 25.06.2002 and her mother-in-law asked her to bring $500 along with her, which she told that the respondent had spent on lawyer in Canada for her immigration.

5. It is further stated that during the petitioner's visit to Meerut from 25.06.2002 till 14. 07. 2002, the behaviour of her mother-in-law was very abusive, quarrelsome and rude. She used to shout at the petitioner on trivial matters, and abused her and her parents, used to call them indecent and senseless. When the petitioner objected to use of abusive language by the mother-in-law and father-in-law, the sister-in-law caught hold of petitioner's hair and thrashed her. She kept instigating her mother to throw the petitioner out of the house and her mother-in-law often used to call the parents of petitioner' Kangla', who did not even gift a car. The petitioner felt very lonely and scared in such a hostile atmosphere.

6. It is further stated that on 14.07.2002, the mother-in-law of the petitioner took all her remaining stridhan sarees, jewellery and cosmetics and threatened her not to demand the same in future or she would be thrown out of the house. On the occasion of 'Teej', the mother-in-law of the petitioner demanded cash to be brought by her from her parents for Lancer car and also ordered to get gold chains for the respondent and his father, a gold set for herself, which she told must be heavier than the previous one. She told the petitioner to go back to Delhi

































































































































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