UTPAL KUMAR Vs. MAJULA DEBI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) An order under S.24, Hindu Marriage Act for maintenance pendente lite and expenses of the proceeding in a matrimonial proceeding is obviously passed to provide the weaker spouse with such fund as may be reasonably necessary for her or his support and for the carriage of the litigation and such an order automatically comes to an end with the termination of the main proceeding in the Court which passes the order. The proceeding being rather summary in nature, the object of the order being ad hoc and the duration of the order being temporary, the approach of the Court to such an order should be ut res magis valeat quam pereat, to sustain it wherever possible and not to interfere unless intervention is irresistible in law.

(2.) That goes to explain as to why the Amendment Act of 1976 has taken care to make it clear by amending S.28 of the Hindu Marriage Act that no appeal would be available against any such order, as prior to such amendment there was a view that such an order was appealable, though a contrary view was also maintained. Non-appealability, as pointed out by the Privy Council in N.S. Venkatagiri Ayyangar, AIR 1949 PC 156 at p. 158, endows an order with some sort of finality and where, as here, the legislature, having found orders under S.24 being challenged in appeal, has now taken away the same by an express amendment, the legislative intent must be taken to be more manifest that the order, right or wrong, is not to be disturbed on merits. This has been pointed out by one of us in the Division Bench decision of this Court in Ashit v. Susmita, AIR 1987 Cal 153.

(3.) But after hearing the learned counsel for the parties and going through the records ourselves, we are, however, satisfied that the instant case warrants our intervention even in revision as, in our view, the trial Judge in making the impugned order in the exercise of his jurisdiction under S.24, Hindu Marriage Act, has acted illegally and with material irregularity within the meaning of S.115 of the Civil P.C. The provisions of S.24 of the Hindu Marriage Act are reproduced hereinbelow :-