Kusum Sharma vs Mahinder Kumar Sharma on 6 August, 2020

Kusum Sharma vs Mahinder Kumar Sharma on 6 August, 2020

Case Name	Kusum Sharma vs Mahinder Kumar Sharma on 6 August, 2020
Equivalent Citation	2017 SCC OnLine Del 12534
Date Of Judgement	6th August,2020
Case No.	First Appeal from Order 297/1997
Case Type	First Appeal from
Petitioner	Kusum Sharma
Respondents	Mahinder Kumar Sharma
Bench	HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE J.R. MIDHA
Statutes Referred	Section 21-B of the Hindu Marriage Act Section 23-A of the Hindu Marriage Act Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act Section 26 of the Hindu Marriage Act Section 27 of the Hindu Marriage Act Article 14 of the Constitution of India Article 21 of the Constitution of India

Facts of the case 

• The wife had challenged the divorce decree granted to the husband by the  Trial Court.
• During the pendency of the appeals, the appellants have filed an application for permanent alimony under Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act. 
• In accordance with Section 21-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, trials must be concluded within six months. However, the disposal of petitions before the Trial Courts takes many years. The law established in Puneet Kaur  had produced remarkable results in cases where it has been followed in both letter and spirit, but regrettably, there are a significant number of cases where the judgement is being followed only in letter and not in spirit.
• The benefit has been denied to the claimants. Even with regard to the disclosure of information and documents by spouses, courts do not adhere to a standard practise and procedure.

Issues Raised

• Whether the wife is eligible for alimony for life.
• Whether maintenance petitions should be dealt with quickly.
• Whether the court can order the wife to pay support to the husband.
• Whether the Court can use some guesswork to figure out how much money each partner makes.
• If you want permanent divorce, do you have to put in a written request?
• Does Section 27 of the Hindu Marriage Act give the wife any other options?
• If a long hearing in a marriage case is unnecessary and goes against the heart of the Hindu Marriage Act.

Arguments

• The wife has argued that Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act entitles her to permanent alimony. 
• The learned Counsel for the appellant also argued that maintenance petitions require prompt resolution. 
• It has been argued that Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act goes a step further by allowing the spouse to claim maintenance even from the wife.
• In the case of Jasbir Kaur (Smt.), the Supreme Court of India acknowledged that spouses in proceedings for maintenance do not always disclose their true income, and therefore the court is permitted to make some educated guesses. 
• It has been argued that permanent alimony and maintenance do not require a written filing. 
• To avoid further litigation, it has been argued that Section 27 of the Hindu Marriage Act provides an alternate way for the wife to recover the property covered by Section 27.
• A prolonged trial in matrimonial proceedings has been argued to be unnecessary and against the essence of the Hindu Marriage Act.

Judgement 

The court was of the opinion that it was necessary to ascertain the parties’ assets, liabilities, income, and expenses in order to calculate maintenance under Section 24 and Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act. Therefore, it was necessary to design a format for the affidavit of expenses, assets, and income. In addition, it was necessary to specify the documents to be attached. Matrimonial jurisdiction was unique and required special consideration. In matrimonial proceedings, a lengthy trial should be avoided.

A prolonged trial would contradict the intent of the Hindu Marriage Act. The affidavit of assets, income, and expenses of both parties would be required to determine the parties’ rights under Sections 24 to 27 of the Hindu Marriage Act; therefore, both parties should submit their affidavits as soon as possible to prevent further delay. Attached to the court’s order is the format for the affidavit of assets, income, and expenditure. 

The format of the affidavit also outlined the documents that must be filed alongside the affidavit. If the petitioner claims maintenance, a Section 24 application must be lodged concurrently with the petition. 

However, if the respondent is seeking maintenance, the application, affidavit of assets, and response to the petitioner’s affidavit must be filed within 30 days of the date of service of notice. The petitioner must file a response to the respondent’s affidavit within two weeks. If the parties are unable to file a response within two weeks, the court may grant an extension.

 In cases where the spouses have sufficient means of subsistence, the initial filing of an application under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act is not required, but this fact must be clearly stated in the pleadings by the spouse concerned.

 If the claim for permanent alimony under Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act is brought before the appellate court, the appellate court will require the parties to submit affidavits of their assets, income, and expenses. The court shall ensure that the parties’ submission of affidavits was not merely a formality. 

The court will examine the affidavits and may refuse to record them if they do not contain all the required information. If a party made a fraudulent statement in the affidavit, the opposing party must reveal the details of the false statement in his/her response to the affidavit, along with evidence to prove the false statement. The aggrieved party may also request permission from the opposing party to produce relevant documents. If the statements in the affidavit are determined to be false, the Court will consider their impact when determining maintenance. 

At the time of notice issuance, the court shall consider directing the petitioner to deposit an amount deemed appropriate, based on the petitioner’s affidavit, for payment to the respondent towards interim litigation expenses. In cases where the wife was unable to support herself and was seeking maintenance from the husband, it would not be appropriate to order the petitioner to pay the respondent’s litigation expenses. The necessity of these directives stems from the fact that the parties in the matrimonial litigation failed to disclose their true income and the maintenance claims were drawn out.

Given the difficulty in determining the actual source of income, the Court typically determines child support based on assumptions. In all cases involving maintenance, including those governed by the Hindu Marriage Act, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, the Special Marriage Act, and Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the procedure outlined here shall be followed. 

The Courts were free to order the parties to disclose additional relevant facts and documents, if deemed necessary to determine the true income, and to consider affidavit rules and formats in order to develop and enhance the format of the affidavit established by this Court. 

The Court believed the filing of affidavits by both parties in the prescribed format in matrimonial litigations would enable the Courts to pass a maintenance order within 60 days in accordance with Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, and should therefore be included in all matrimonial statutes.

Conclusion 

The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 was given its proper interpretation by the Honourable Court, which resulted in the development of a time-efficient method for deciding cases involving alimony and maintenance payments. In order to commence proceedings in accordance with sections 24 and 25 of the Act, each party was required to submit an affidavit in a certain format that detailed their assets, obligations, income, and expenses. The information that is given therein would be of use to the Courts in ascertaining the real nature of the income of the parties and establishing the maintained appropriately in accordance with the various legislation.

Nishita Mehta a student at Kirit P Mehta School of Law,3rd Semester, an intern under Legal Vidhiya