The single judge bench of the Jharkhand High Court reiterated that the Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities shall be filed by both parties in all maintenance proceedings, including pending proceedings before the Family Court/District Court/Magistrates Court concerned, as the case may be, throughout the country and even if the proceeding was ex-parte against the husband still the required affidavit was to be filed by the wife.
Brief facts
The factual matrix of the case that the learned family judge allowed the petition under Section 125 CrPC exparte against the Petitioner and directed the Petitioner to pay maintenance of Rs 5,000 /-per month to his wife and Rs. 1,000/- per month to his minor daughter until she is married or is gainfully employed. Therefore, the present criminal revision is filed.
Contentions of the Petitioner
The Petitioner submitted that he had no knowledge regarding the proceedings which resulted in the passing of the exparte order. It was furthermore submitted that the income of the petitioner has been tentatively taken as Rs. 25 to 30 thousand per month while granting the maintenance and in fact, the petitioner is unemployed though he is a B. Tech Graduate.
Contentions of the opposite party no. 2
The learned counsel for the opposite party no. 2 submitted that the Petitioner deliberately didn’t participate in the proceedings. It was furthermore submitted that the order passed by the learned family court is well reasoned and only a small amount has been awarded as maintenance.
Observations of the court
The Hon’ble court observed that to assess the sources of income, assets, and liabilities of both parties and, in turn, quantify the maintenance that the wife and minor children have claimed, an affidavit is required to be filed by both parties in all maintenance proceedings, including pending proceedings before the Family Court/District Court/Magistrates Court concerned. The reliance was placed upon the judgment titled Rajesh V. Neha.
It was noted that even if the proceeding was ex-parte against the petitioner still the required affidavit was to be filed by the wife so as to find out her assets/liabilities/source of income etc.
Based on these considerations, the court was of the view that the matter required fresh consideration by the learned family judge and set aside the order passed by the learned family judge. The court directed both parties to appear before the learned family judge with their respective affidavit of disclosure.
The decision of the court
With the above direction, the court disposed of the criminal revision petition.
Case Title: Sandeep Prasad Vs State of Jharkhand
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary
Case no.: Cr. Rev. No. 1362 of 2022
Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr. Nehru Mahto, Advocate
Advocate for the State: Mr. Sunil Kumar Dubey, APP
Advocates for the Opp Party: Mr. Gaurav Kumar, Advocate : Mr. Syed H. Arsh, Advocate
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