Claim for Maintenance arises from Date of Filing the Application and not the Date of Judgment, rules Jharkhand HC
The Jharkhand High Court in the case of Rinki Kumari v/s Kundan Kumar ruled that the claim for maintenance arises from the date of filing the application and not the date of judgment.
The revision application has been directed against the judgment passed by the Addl. Principal Judge, Addl. Family Court, Ranchi, whereby the court has allowed the application of the petitioner and directed the opposite party to pay an amount of Rs. 1500/- per month to the petitioner from the date of passing of the judgment and has further directed to pay Rs. 5,000/- lump sum as litigation cost and has also directed the opposite party to make payment of monthly allowance on or before 10th day of each month of English calendar.
Advocate Mr. Vikas Kumar, appearing on behalf of the opposite party, contended that pursuant to order, he was to seek instructions as to whether maintenance has been paid to the petitioner as per the impugned order or not, but he does not have any instructions.
Advocate Mr. Arjun N. Deo, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that not even a farthing has been paid to the petitioner and this fact has been mentioned by the petitioner in the present memo also.
The single judge bench of Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary noted that maintenance should be awarded from the date on which the application was made before court concerned, the right to claim maintenance must date back to the date of filing the application since the period during which the maintenance proceedings remained pending is not within the control of the applicant.
The court held that the impugned order passed by the Addl. Principal Judge, Addl. Family Court, Ranchi to the extent it directs payment of monthly maintenance from the date of judgment, is not sustainable in the eyes of law and it is accordingly modified by holding that the petitioner would be entitled for the payment of monthly allowance as fixed by the court from the date of application filed before the court which is dated 22 September 2014.
