The husband has a duty and responsibility to maintain his wife, especially when she is in a destitute condition. The obligation to maintain arises at the very outset of the marriage.

Swatanter Kumar, J.

1. By this common order, I propose to dispose of C.M. Nos. 24-M and 84-M of 1997 both Tiled in F.A.O. No. 29-M of 1997. While C.M. No. 24-M of 1997 is the application filed by the wife Under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act praying for grant of maintenance pendente lite and litigation expenses, the C.M. No. 84-M of 1997 is the application filed for the same relief by the husband against his wife.

2. The necessary facts are:-

that Surjit Kaur wife of Amarjit Singh had filed a petition Under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act praying that the marriage be dissolved between the parties on the ground of cruelty and desertion. The parties were married on 7th May, 1981. They Jived together for some times. No child was born out of this wedlock and it was averred that the husband was a greedy person, addicted to drinking and demanded dowry and such other allegations have been made in the petition. The case was contested by the husband who denied the allegations of desertion and cruelty and further stated that he was willing to take the wife back to matrimonial home. He had made offer in this regard. He had also filed a petition Under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act for restitution of conjugal rights, which was dismissed for non-compliance of the order of the Court for non-payment of maintenance vide order dated 12.10.1988. Even in earlier proceedings Under Section 125 of the Cr.P.C. which was filed by the wife, the wife had refused to accompany her husband. On these basis he stated that the applicant-wife is not entitled to any maintenance pendente lite and litigation expenses.

3 It needs to be noticed that the petition for divorce filed by the wife was dismissed by the learned District Judge vide judgment dated 20.2.1997 against which the First Appeal against Order has been preferred and the same is pending in this Court.

4. In the application Under Section 24 of the H.M.A. filed by the wife, has stated that she has no source of income and she does not own or possess any movable or immovable property and - is depending on her parents for her livelihood. It is averred that the husband has independent source of income. He has land situated in Village Sultanpur Lodhi as well. He is stated to be earning Rs. 10,000/- per month.

5. In the reply filed by the husband he has stated that he does not own any agricultural land. He claims to be a daily wager. Further, it is stated in reply that the wife has share in the property and she earns about Rs. 30,000/- per month as income from agricultural sources. The husband admits income of Rs. 30-40/- per day and stated that the wife is earning much more than him. On the contrary keeping in view the income of the wife in mind, the husband is claiming maintenance pendente lite and litigation expenses from the wife as prayed by him in C.M. No. 84-M of 1997.

6. None of the applicants have filed any documents on record to show that either party owns agricultural land. No documentary evidence has been placed on record to show what is the income of either spouse by one while claiming maintenance from the other spouse. Certain burden is placed upon an applicant to satisfy the Court at least prima facie as to what is the income of the spouse against whom such prayer is made. Except the applications in which bald statements have been made without giving definite particulars which are supported by the affidavits. There is no material on record which could form the basis for determining the income of any of the applicants on some definite basis. The wife has placed on record copy of the order dated 29th April, 1996 passed by the District Judge, Jalandhar on a petition Under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act where the wife was awarded a sum of Rs. 350/- as maintenance pendente lite and Rs. 800/- on account of litigation expenses.

7. As earlier noticed, the parties were married in the year 1981. They lived together for some time. They did not have child from the marriage an