Maintenance if wife below 18 years

Maitenance under HMA24 cannot be denied on the ground that wife is below 18 years

January 30, 2012

Kolkata High Court (Appellete Side)
3349/2010 on 24 January, 2012
Author: Dipankar Dutta
1

24.01.2012

kc. 243 C.O.3349 of 2010 Mr. Sanat Chowdhuri …for the petitioner. The impugned order allows an application under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act filed by the wife/opposite party. The learned Additional District Judge directed the husband/petitioner to pay Rs.1,800/- per month with effect from January, 2010 on account of alimony pendente lite and Rs.3,000/- towards litigation cost. The only point that has been raised by Mr. Chowdhuri, learned advocate for the husband/petitioner is that the application under Section 24 of the Act filed by the wife/opposite party was not maintainable since on the date the same was presented, she was below the age of 18 years. Not only that, the date on which marriage between the parties was solemnized, the wife/opposite party had not attained the age of 18 years and, therefore, the marriage contravened provisions of Section 5(iii) of the Act. The learned Additional District Judge was of the view, on consideration of the provisions contained in Sections 5, 11, 12 and 18 of the Act, that the marriage between the parties was neither voidable nor void and that a marriage solemnized in contravention of Section 5(iii) is punishable under Section 18 of the Act and, therefore, she was entitled 2

to lay a claim for alimony pendente lite claiming to be the wife of the husband/petitioner.

I am of the view that the learned Judge was right in his approach and in granting alimony pendente lite and litigation costs to the wife/opposite party did not transgress the bounds of his authority.

There is no reason to interfere. The revisional application stands dismissed.

Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties as early as possible. (DIPANKAR DATTA,J.)