Court orders regarding child maintenance are binding and must be complied with regardless of personal circumstances, and failure to do so can result in contempt proceedings.

JUDGMENT

Evrol Mariette Peters J:

Introduction

[1] This was the Petitioner-Wife's application under O 52 r 4 of the Rules of 2012 ("Rules of ") to cite the Petitioner-Husband for contempt for allegedly breaching Court orders, granted in August 2012 and varied in October 2021 (collectively "the Court Orders"), concerning child maintenance payments.

[2] In the interest of privacy of the parties concerned and due to the sensitivity of the issues, the Petitioner-Husband and Petitioner-Wife have been anonymised as KOH and POH, while the children of the marriage have been anonymised as SOH and MOH.

The Factual Background

[3] The Petitioner-Husband, and Petitioner-Wife (collectively "the Parties"), aged 51 and 46 respectively at the time of the hearing of this Application, were married in 2004 and were blessed with two children, SOH and MOH, born in 2008 and 2009 respectively. ("the Children").

[4] In August 2012, the Parties' marriage was dissolved and an Amended Decree Nisi was granted ("the August 2012 Court Order"). One of the terms of the August 2012 Court Order was for the Petitioner-Husband to pay monthly child maintenance in the amount of MYR2,000.00. The term read:

(b)

...

(vi) Pempetisyen Suami akan membayar kepada Pempetisyen-Isteri secara bulanan sebanyak RM2,000.00 dalam masa tujuh hari pertama setiap bulan sebagai sumbangan terhadap pembelanjaan pembelajaran anak-anak perkahwinan tersebut termasuk semua kos sampingan, buku-buku sekolah, alat-alat tulis, aktiviti kurikulum tambahan, yuran sekolah, yuran tuisyen dan untuk premium insurans untuk nombor polisi **** dan **** untuk MOH dan SOH masing-masing dan kos perubatan dan pembantu rumah. Ianya dipersetujui bahawa apabila tiba tempoh matang, hasil polisi akan digunakan untuk pembelajaran anak-anak. Perbelanjaan bagi permohonan untuk pembantu rumah baru atau memperbaharui visa pembantu rumah akan dikongsi bersama;

[5] Since 2013, the Petitioner-Husband failed to comply with the maintenance payment obligations stipulated by the August 2012 Court Order. Faced with the burden of supporting both herself and the Children, the Petitioner-Wife was compelled to accept the Petitioner-Husband's offer to reside with him, which she did from 2016 until March 2021. Despite such living arrangement, the Petitioner-Husband persistently refused to fulfill his legal obligation to provide the Court -ordered monthly maintenance. As a result, the Petitioner-Wife continued to bear the financial responsibility for the Children without the support that had been previously mandated.

[6] In March 2021, the Petitioner-Wife claimed that she and the Children were forced to leave the Petitioner-Husband's residence.

[7] In August 2021, the Petitioner-Wife filed an application for ancillary relief to vary ("the Variation Application") the maintenance order, seeking monthly amounts of MYR5,000.00 and MYR3,000.00 for SOH and MOH respectively. She argued that both Children required additional funds, since SOH had been diagnosed with mild Autism Spectrum Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder ("ADHD"), while MOH suffered from chronic eczema requiring ongoing treatment and medication.

[8] In October 2021, the Court allowed the Variation Application which included a prayer for the Petitioner-Husband to pay MYR74,000.00 in maintenance arrears from July 2018 to July 2021, based on the August 2012 Court Order ("the October 2021 Court Order"). The relevant terms of the October 2021 Court Order included:

(1) Bagi anak perkahwinan SOH:-

(1.1) Pempetisyen Suami akan membayar kepada Pempetisyen Isteri secara bulanan sebanyak RM5,000.00 mulai Ogos 2021 pada atau sebelum hari ketujuh (ke-7) setiap bulan sebagai nafkah bagi SOH, sehingga SOH tidak lagi dalam keadaan hilangupaya (on the ceasing of his disabilities);

(1.2) Nafkah untuk SOH di atas adalah tertakluk kepada peningkatan pada kadar 8% setiap tahun dan nafkah ini adalah tidak termasuk kos pendidikan tahap tinggi (tertiary edu