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SC lays down guidelines for matrimonial cases
Why is it in news?
- The SC was hearing a matrimonial plea from Maharashtra on the question of payment of maintenance by a man to his wife and son under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
- The case had been dragging on for years.
Details:
- The Supreme Court held that deserted wives and children are entitled to alimony/maintenance from their husbands from the date they apply for it in a court of law.
- The women deserted by husbands were left in dire straits, often reduced to destitution, for lack of means to sustain themselves and their children.
- The judgment laid down uniform and comprehensive guidelines for family courts, magistrates and lower courts to follow while hearing applications filed by women seeking maintenance from their estranged husbands.
- Guidelines:
(1) The date of application by deserted wife should be considered for granting maintenance.
(2) Both the applicant wife and the respondent husband have to disclose their assets and liabilities in a maintenance case. Any earlier case filed or pending under any other law should also be revealed in court.
(3) The expenses of the children, including their education, basic needs and other vocational activities, should be factored in by courts while calculating the alimony.
(4) Other factors such as “spiralling inflation rates and high costs of living” should be considered, but the wife should receive an alimony which fit the standard of life she was used to in the matrimonial home.
- The court said a violation would lead to punishment, such as civil detention and even attachment of the property of the latter.