SC refuses to intrude within the Armed Forces’ resolution to grant spouse alimony on Jaw’s wage

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere in policy decisions by the armed forces to grant the estranged wife and children alimony or alimony directly from the serving staff’s salary and allowance, saying: ‘It is about a welfare measure designed to ensure the spouse will not be abandoned”.

Retired and serving members of the Army have addressed the Supreme Court, saying they are offended and dissatisfied with the arbitrary exercise of power and jurisdiction by the Army, Air Force and Navy, which has usurped judicial authorities and issued support orders against personnel enacted by the Indian Armed Forces.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said: “These are all welfare measures. Army personnel are deployed across the country. It is to ensure that their spouse and children are not abandoned.”

It asked the petitioners, including serving and retired soldiers, non-commissioned officers and others, represented by attorney Neela Gokhale and Anannya Ghosh, to contact the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) as it is currently not interfering.

Gokhale said the armed forces’ mechanism in awarding this alimony is not uniform and is done without adhering to the guidelines that this court adopted in awarding alimony and alimony in its 2021 ruling.

The bank said all of these issues could be raised before the AFT and urged the tribunal to expeditiously deal with petitions on the issue that have been pending since 2019.

The pleading filed by Ghosh reads: “The petitioners are soldiers, including officers, JCOs and OP personnel from the Indian Armed Forces. With the present petition they seek to attack the directive/order of November 29, 2018, which does not carry the issuance of the army and similar political orders by the defendants of the respective armed forces, providing ‘advice’ in relation to the granting of child support to the woman and the children of the servants was issued”.

It states that the policy letter in question has been converted into an Army Order or similar Air Force Order or Navy Order and the competent authority has also ordered that this advice/instruction be implemented with immediate effect.

“It is alleged that the said instructions were issued in accordance with the recommendations of the Raksha Mantri Expert Committee, which was set up for the purpose of reviewing service and pension matters, including potential disputes, minimizing litigation and strengthening institutional mechanisms related to the settlement of complaints in 2015,” it said.

The plea alleges that the said directive/directive establishes a procedure for the award of maintenance to wives and children of serving civil servants, and the said directive further establishes the parameters for the award of maintenance, including the amount, duration and other ancillary aspects the same.

“It is submitted with the utmost respect that the authorities of the Armed Forces are not endowed with the jurisdiction and powers to intervene in the administration of justice in matters which concern and concern exclusively the personal rights of parties. In addition, the Defendants’ authorities are not authorized to seize the jurisdiction of the court of competent jurisdiction to rule on matters relating to spousal claims, including without limitation alimony, alimony and interim alimony,” it said.

The plea goes on to state that the petitioners contest the actions of the defendants, who have brazenly usurped the jurisdiction of the relevant judicial authorities, including the family courts, and ascribed to themselves the power to provide maintenance to wives and children.

“The said policy letter/instructions even set out a procedure for determining the amount of alimony to be paid to the wife and on various occasions tacit orders are issued without recourse to the legalities associated with the matter. It is submitted that neither the Army Act, the Navy Act, nor the Air Force Act, or the rules made under them, provide for the exercise of jurisdiction to determine family matters, including the award of alimony,” the plea added.

The policy letter challenged herein also sets the upper limit on the amount of support to be paid to the wife and children and this has been set at 22 percent of gross salary for the wife and 5.5 percent for each child.

“Needless to say, the proportion mentioned has also been achieved without any authority to do so and also prohibits any reflection or analysis of parameters set in the various laws, judgments of this Court and other precedents. Therefore, the entire policy letter and its implementation are illegal, arbitrary without jurisdiction and provision in any law governing the Defense Forces,” it said.

The petition states that providing “alimony and alimony” to wives and other dependents is subject to various personal laws governing the individuals concerned.

“The subject in question is clearly dealt with in various acts such as the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence 2005, the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 and the Indian Divorce Act, the Parsi Marriage – and Divorce Act, etc.,” it said.

Image: AP

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