A court may impose conditional payment of maintenance arrears while setting aside an ex-parte order, and such discretion is generally not subject to interference in revision unless clearly irregular or illegal.

ORDER

The respondent in MC No.263/2020 on the files of the Family Court, North Paravur, has filed this revision petition challenging order dated 20.04.2026 of the said Court in Crl.M.P No.61/2025 and Crl.M.P No.62/2025 filed in the aforesaid case.

2. The Family Court had passed an ex parte order against the petitioner herein directing him to pay maintenance at the rate of Rs.6000/- per month to his wife, the 1st respondent herein, and Rs.4000/- per month to his son, the 2nd respondent herein. According to the petitioner, there was no effective service of notice upon him in connection with the aforesaid proceedings, and hence he was not able to contest the proceedings before the Family Court. Due to the above reason, the petitioner approached the court below by filing petitions to condone the delay of 678 days and to set aside the ex parte order passed against him. The learned Family Court Judge, after considering all the relevant aspects, passed a common order in the aforesaid petitions allowing the prayers of the petitioner subject to the payment of Rs.1 lakh out of the maintenance arrears to the respondents within two weeks. It is the aforesaid order which is under challenge in this revision petition.

3. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner.

4. Having regard to the nature of the relief sought for in this petition, notice to the respondents is dispensed with.

5. It is by taking into account the huge maintenance arrears of Rs.5,30,000/- which stood due to the petitioners in the MC, that the Family Court had passed the aforesaid order directing the petitioner to pay an amount of Rs.1 lakh out of the arrears of maintenance, as a condition precedent to set aside the ex parte order passed by that Court. In view of the above factual scenario, it cannot be said that the court below passed an illegal or irregular order warranting interference of this Court in revision. However, taking into account the request of the learned counsel for the petitioner, seeking time for effecting payment of the aforesaid amount, I deem it appropriate to allow a period of 3 months to the petitioner to comply with the direction of the court below in the impugned order.

In the result, the revision stands disposed of as follows:

i) The time fixed by the Family Court, North Paravur, in the impugned order for making payment of the amount of Rs.1 lakh to the respondents, is extended by a period of three months from today.

ii) If the petitioner remits the amount of Rs.1 lakh ordered by the Family Court on or before 18.08.2026, the ex parte order passed against him in the said case shall be set aside and the case shall be proceeded with by giving opportunity to the petitioner to contest the matter.

iii) It is made clear that during the aforesaid period of three months, and later on, the petitioner will be liable to pay the interim maintenance amount ordered by the Family Court, till that Court passes any order modifying it.

The execution proceedings in MC No.263/2020 shall be kept in abeyance till 18.08.2026.