Lucknow, Sep 15 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday disapproved of “non-essential” parallel litigation for maintenance, observing that although the law permits relief under different statutory provisions, pursuing multiple proceedings adds to the burden on family courts and delays disposal of cases.
Justice Subhash Vidyarthi of the Lucknow bench made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by Shashi Gupta under Article 227 of the Constitution, seeking directions for the expeditious disposal of a maintenance execution case pending before a family court in Lucknow.
According to the case, the family court on June 4, 2024, directed Gupta’s husband to pay her Rs 7,000 per month as maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). She subsequently filed the case on July 19, 2024, seeking enforcement of the order.
The bench noted that Gupta had also initiated proceedings under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, under which she was awarded maintenance of Rs 4,500 per month.
The court further noted that the parties had entered into a settlement under which the husband was required to pay Rs 1.51 lakh and return certain articles. They had also agreed to seek divorce by mutual consent.
The husband paid Rs 50,000 under the settlement, but the mutual-consent divorce proceedings could not subsequently be taken forward.
The court also took note of the fact that Gupta had neither instituted divorce proceedings nor sought restitution of conjugal rights, while pursuing proceedings before different forums for maintenance from her husband.
The bench observed that the law gives a person the option of initiating maintenance proceedings under different statutory provisions. However, where a woman claims financial inability to meet even her basic needs, unnecessarily multiplying litigation for the same relief cannot be justified.
“Such alternative and non-essential proceedings,” the court observed, “add to the already heavy workload of family courts and contribute to delays in disposal of cases”. PTI COR KIS RT
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