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2011 Supreme(Raj) 423

[Citation : 2011(2) RLW 1748 (Raj.)]
(Rajasthan High Court)
Jaipur Bench
Sukrit Verma & Anr. Vs. State of Raj. & Anr. (Chauhan, J.)
HON'BLE R.S. CHAUHAN, J.
Sukrit Verma & Anr.
Versus
State of Rajasthan & Anr.
S.B. Cr. Revision Petition No.131 of 2011, decided on 05.05.2011

Advocates Appeared
Mohit Tiwari, for Petitioners;
Laxman Meena, Public Prosecutor, for State;
S.R. Bajwa, Senior Advocate with Snehdeep, for Respondent No.2

Headnote:Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, Sec. 20 read with Cr. P.C., 1973, Sec. 125; Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Sec. 24 — Maintenance by husband — Husband claimed to be unemployed — Inability of earning is not a valid defence — While granting maintenance the court has to weigh the comparative hardship of husband and of the wife — Non paying of maintenance to wife and children fall within the definition of domestic violence — Held — Courts below were justified in concluding that the wife was subjected to domestic violence — Maintenance allowed.

       Revision petition dismissed. (Paras 11 to 14 and 17 to 19)

       ?kjsyw fgalk ls efgykvksa dk laj{k.k vf/kfu;e] 2005] /kkjk 20 lifBr na-iz-la-] 1973] /kkjk 125( fgUnw fookg vf/kfu;e] 1955] /kkjk 24 & ifr }kjk Hkj.k iks"k.k & ifr us csjkstxkj gksus dk nkok fd;k & dekbZ dh vleFkZrk dksbZ oS/k izfrj{kk ugha & Hkj.k-iks"k.k eatwj djrs le; U;k;ky; dks ifr ,oa iRuh dh rqyukRed eqf'dyksa dk otu djuk gksrk gS & iRuh ,oa cPpksa dks Hkj.k-iks"k.k dk lank; ugha djuk ?kjsyw fgalk dh ifjHkk"kk ds varxZr vkrk gS & vfHkfu/kkZfjr & fuEu U;k;ky; bl fu"d"kZ ij igqapus esa U;k;ksfpr Fks fd iRuh dks ?kjsyw fgalk dk f'kdkj cuk;k x;k & Hkj.k-iks"k.k Lohdkj fd;kA

       iqujh{k.k ;kfpdk [kkfjt dhA ¼in la[;k 11 ls 14 vkSj 17 ls 19½

JUDGMENT

Hon'ble CHAUHAN, J.—Aggrieved by the judgment dated 29-6-2010, passed by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate No.12, Jaipur City, Jaipur, and by the judgment dated 19-1-2011, passed by Additional Sessions Judge (Fast Track) No.3, Jaipur City, Jaipur, the petitioner has approached this court. By the former judgment, the learned Magistrate had directed the petitioner to pay a monetary relief of $ 2000 per month, or an equivalent amount in Indian Currency, to the respondent from the date of presentation of the application i.e. 9.1.2007, and to pay $ 2500, or an equivalent amount thereof, for the expenses of the proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 ('the Act' for short); by the latter judgment, the learned Judge has upheld the judgment dated 29.6.2010, and has dismissed the appeal filed by the petitioner.

2. The brief facts of the case are that on 25-1-2002 the petitioner No.1 Sukrit Verma, and the respondent No.2, Rupal Khullar, were married, at New Delhi, according to the Hindu customs and rites. They left for United States of America (`USA' for short) on 6-6-2002. They continued to live there till January, 2006. According to the husband, the respondent wife refused to return back to USA, to live with him, for the reasons best known to her. However, according to the respondent wife, she refused to go back with him for the reason that while she was staying in the USA, with him, she was subjected to acts of domestic violence. Therefore, she had no desire to join him back in the USA. In January, 2007, the respondent wife filed a petition under Section 9(6) and 37(2)(d) of the Act before the learned Magistrate. In order to buttress her contentions, the respondent wife examined herself as a witness, and submitted 86 documents. On the other hand, the husband examined himself as a witness, and submitted 115 documents. After going through the oral and documentary evidence, vide judgment dated 29-6-2010, the learned Magistrate allowed the petition in the terms aforementioned. Since the petitioner was aggrieved by the said judgment, he filed an appeal under section 29 of the Act. However, vide judgment dated 19-1-2011, the learned Judge confirmed the judgment dated 29-6-2010, and dismissed the appeal. Hence, this revision petition before this court.

3. Mr. Mohit Tiwari, the learned counsel for the petitioner, has raised the following contentions before this Court:

Firstly, that the learned Magistrate, and the learned Judge have not appreciated the evidence in proper perspective. They have erroneously concluded that the petitioner husband had committed acts of cruelty towards the respondent wife.

Secondly, both the learned courts below have failed to consider the fact that the petitioner husband is unemployed; he does not have means to give the monetary relief as directed by the court. Therefore, the maintenance allowance is unreasonable.

Thirdly, the respondent wife herself is a renowned artist, who earns about Rs.1 lac per month by selling her paintings.

Fourthly, learned courts below have erred in calculating the maintenance in terms of US dollors, instead of Rupees. In fact, the learned Magistrate should have calculated the maintenance in terms of Rupees.

Lastly, relying on the case of Sanjay Bhardwaj & Others vs. State & Another, (Cr.M.C. No.491/2009 decided by Delhi High Court on 27-8-2010), the learned counsel has contended that “there is no requirement in law for the husband to maintain his wife. For, the Court cannot tell the husband to beg, borrow, or steal but give maintenance to the wife, more so when the husband and wife are almost equally qualified and almost equally capable of earning”. Thus, according to the learned counsel, in the present case, since the husband is unemployed, since the wife is earning by selling her paintings, the husband cannot be forced to maintain his wife.

4. On the other hand, Mr. S.R. Bajwa, Senior Advocate, the learned counsel for the respondent wife, has raised the following contentio





























































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