Wife can apply for alimony after 13 yr hole even when lump sum alimony has already been granted – Punjab & Haryana HC

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that after a 13-year break, the wife can file an application under Section 125 CrPC and seek maintenance even if she has already been granted lump-sum maintenance.

Judge Amarjot Bhatti found that it cannot be said that the wife cannot file a Section 125 CrPC application after a long hiatus of 13 years or that the filing of the application was an abuse of legal process.

The court also ruled: “Rashmi survived along with her two children on the basis of a lump sum alimony provided by her husband and by working as a teacher in a school. Ultimately, in order to support herself and her daughter and live a respectable life, she was forced to file a Section 125 Cr.PC petition demanding alimony from Sunil Sachdeva. Therefore, the application she submitted is fully justified.”

In this case, the husband had applied to the High Court under Section 482 CrPC to reverse the judgment of the Additional Sessions Judge, Pathankot, awarding alimony of Rs. 15,000/- per month to the defendant wife.

The parties (both husband and wife) had a marital dispute after which the wife was evicted from the marital household along with two children in 1993. The husband had applied for a divorce, which was dismissed by the High Court on appeal.

Attorney Ayush Gupta appeared for the petitioner while attorney RD Sharma appeared in court for the defendants.

The woman claimed that she was employed at a school and earned Rs. 17,000 a month, but she couldn’t support herself and her daughter. She lived in a rented apartment and had huge expenses to pay off every month. It was also claimed that the husband was earning more than Rs. 1 lac per month and therefore she claimed alimony of Rs. 25,000 per month under Section 125 CrPC.

While husband claimed that wife has already received Rs as per the agreement between them. 3 laks from husband as alimony.

The question the court considered was whether the wife could have filed the Section 125 CrPC petition after the matter was compromised and the wife received lump sum child support along with their two children.

The court found that the wife had filed the Section 125 CrPc request for the first time after a gap of 13 years, and it could not be disputed that a woman and her two children could not, with a measly amount of rs to survive. 3 lacs given to them by husband-father as a compromise and thus kept –

“…Rashmi was eligible to file the present application under Section 125 Cr.PC seeking alimony to care for her unmarried daughter as well as her own survival.”

In addition, the court ruled that it is not possible to live on a meager salary of Rs. 17,000/- and be in charge of two children who attended vocational colleges and observed-

“Therefore, based on the 8/7/1983 Compromise, it cannot be said that Rashmi failed to file a Section 125 Cr.PC petition after a long hiatus of 13 years or that the filing of this petition was an abuse of legal process. ”

Thus the court upheld the contested order of the Additional Sessions Judge, Pathankot, on the wife’s alimony of Rs. 15,000 per month and dismissed the petition.

Title of the matter – Sunil Sachdeva v. Rashmi and others

Click here to read/download the judgment