TRIPTA CHHABRA Vs. AJIT KUMAR CHHABRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY the impugned order which was passed during the proceedings under section 12 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 on an application made by the petitioner under Section 24 of that Act, the lower Court has fixed Rs. 150/- per month as maintenance to be paid to the applicant from 26-9-1983. Some amount has also been awarded to meet the expenses of the proceedings. The grievance of the petitioner here is that the order granting this maintenance should have been made effective either from the date of making of the application or from 8-6-1982 when the respondent was served with the notice of the main petition under Section 12 of the Act.

(2.) SECTION 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act is as follows :-

(3.) IT is no doubt true that it is the discretion of a trial Court to pass an order under section 24 of the Act and to make it effective from a particular date. It has been rightly pointed out in Smt. Sumita vs. Ganesh, C. R. No. 814/80 decided on 24-2-1982 (Jabalpur), that there is no such inviolable rule of law that maintenance must be allowed from the date of the application made by a party under Section 24 of the Act. The decided cases, however, show that such maintenance is allowed either from the date of the making of the application under Section 24 of the Act or even from the date of service of notice of the main petition upon the other party. In Smt. Sobhna Sen vs. Amar kanta Sen, AIR 1959 Cal. 455, maintenance under Section 24 of the Act was granted from the date of service of notice. It was held by the Division Bench that the District judge who awarded the maintenance from the date of an application because of the delay in making application acted arbitrarily. In N. Subramanyam vs. Mrs. M. G. Saraswathi, AIR 1964 Mysore 38, a Division Bench of the Mysore High Court held that under Section 24 of the Act, the Court has power to grant interim maintenance for the entire duration of the proceedings, and that there is no warrant for limiting its commencement to the date on which the application for grant of maintenance was made. There also maintenance was awarded from the date of service of the main petition.