CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has advised family courts not to allow the wives to rob their ex-husbands under the guise of passing orders on maintenance cases. The judge was passing orders on a revision petition from a husband challenging the orders of a family court in Coimbatore.
“The family court shall not allow the wife to rob husband till the last penny under the guise of maintenance award under different provision of the various laws, as it is found in the instant case,” Justice Teekaa Raman said last week and set aside the maintenance order passed under section 125 of CrPC.
The judge also restrained the lower courts from using the words ‘beg, borrow, or steal’ while making husbands pay maintenance in matrimonial disputes.
When the plea came up for hearing, the judge noted that various Acts were, no doubt, enacted to enable the wife to seek maintenance from the husband. However, the same is not without checks and balances, depending on the income earned by the husband.
The courts are duty-bound to assess the situation of husband and know whether he is capable of paying the amount, before awarding such maintenance and shall not unreasonably and arbitrarily pass such awards.
Big ‘no’ to beg, steal, borrow
The Madras High Court restrained the lower courts from using the words ‘beg, borrow, or steal’ while making husbands pay maintenance in matrimonial disputes