ORDER

These petitions are preferred by the husband and wife respectively. The husband prefers W.P.No.26319/2023 calling in question the order of grant of maintenance by the concerned Court. W.P.No.21986/2023 is preferred by the wife seeking enhancement of maintenance as ordered by the concerned Court.

2. Heard the learned counsel Sri.Spoorthy Hegde N., representing the wife and the learned counsel Sri. Nehal Thimmaiah M.P., representing the husband.

3. Facts in brief, germane for a consideration of the lis, are as follows:

The petitioners are husband and wife. The two get married on 20.06.2014. The relationship between the two appears to have turned sour and on such floundering of the relationship, the husband is before the concerned Court seeking annulment of marriage invoking Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. In the said petition, the wife files an application under Section 24 of the Act seeking interim maintenance. It transpires that the respondent - husband objected to the grant of any maintenance on the ground that the wife herself is well to do and she would not need any maintenance. The concerned Court passes an order on 08.09.2023 directing payment of maintenance of Rs.70,000/-

to the wife from the hands of the husband.

4. The learned counsel representing the husband would vehemently oppose the grant of any maintenance as it does not reason as to why Rs.70,000/- is to be granted to the wife. Therefore, seeks quashment of the same contending that they stayed together only for six months and due to the unbearable torture of the wife, the husband had to suffer a lot in the employment. He would further contend that the assets and liabilities as on the date of the filing of the application should be made applicable to the husband's income and not what is earning today.

5. The learned counsel representing the wife Sri.Spoorthy Hegde N., would submit that the wife is not earning. She is not in employment and had filed her assets and liabilities statement before the concerned Court. It is the husband who is dodging the issue in filing the assets and liabilities statement. It is the submission of the learned counsel for the wife that the husband is earning close to Rs.8 Crores annually and is fighting shy to part with Rs.70,000/- as maintenance that is awarded by the concerned Court. The learned counsel would further contend that it is the husband who is dodging the issue and not the wife.

6. I have given my anxious consideration to the contentions of respective learned counsel and have perused the material on record.

7. The afore-narrated facts are not in dispute. The issue lies in a narrow compass. The relationship between the parties is not in dispute. The husband files a petition seeking annulment of marriage before the jurisdictional Court at Mumbai in M.J.Petition No.A1080/2017. Since the wife was residing at Bengaluru, the case is transferred to the jurisdictional Court in Bangalore and the proceedings are on since then.

8. In the proceedings, the wife files an application seeking interim maintenance invoking Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act. The assets and liabilities statement were directed to be placed before the Court. Calling in question the said order of the concerned Court directing filing of assets and liabilities statement, the husband had knocked at the doors of this Court in W.P.No.11146/2022. The writ petition comes to be disposed on 31.01.2023 by the following order:

" The petitioner is before this Court seeking the following prayer:

"a. Wherefore, the Petitioner herein prays that this Honb'le Court be pleased to issue a writ in nature certiorari or any other writ or direction quashing the order dated 1.12.2020 i.e. Annexure-A, passed by the Learned Family Judge Bangalore upon the Application under section 91 of Code of Criminal Procedure in C.Misc No 635 of 2019 and pass such order or direction that this Hon'ble Court deems fit to pass in the facts and circumstances of the case.

b. That this Hon'ble Cour