Judiciary must prioritize maintenance cases of destitute women: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court recently stressed that the judicial system must prioritize the expeditious disposal of maintenance cases concerning destitute women who are left without support from their parents, in-laws, or husbands..Justice Vinod Diwakar added that it was necessary to ensure that justice is not delayed for those struggling for basic maintenance and dignity in society.“One of the essential aspects of timely justice lies in retaining the essence of sensitivity towards the cause at hand and upholding the judiciary's societal responsibility. Therefore, learned family court judges must perform their judicial duties with heightened responsibility, sensitivity, and a steadfast commitment to delivering timely justice while upholding judicial discipline and propriety,” the Court added..The judicial system must prioritize the expeditious disposal of maintenance cases of destitute women.Allahabad High Court.Accordingly, it asked the Director of the Judicial Training and Research Institute at Lucknow to sensitise judicial officers undergoing training on judicial discipline and propriety in following the directions issued by the Supreme Court on the award of maintenance.A checklist of essential points in such cases, including a clear outline of do's, should be prepared and circulated among family court judges from time to time as well, the High Court added..The Court was hearing a woman’s plea for maintenance from her husband. In 2019, a family court awarded ₹5,000 as maintenance to the wife and ₹3,000 to the couple’s minor child. The ex-parte order was set aside in 2023, leading to the filing of a revision petition before the High Court. .During the hearing of this plea, the High Court came across certain anomalies and sought a report from the family courts of Saharanpur with regard to compliance with guidelines issued by the Supreme Court and the High Court when it came to maintenance cases."I deem it appropriate not to discuss the contents of the report in detail as the learned Judge -in- charge Family Court has flagged certain issues that are concerned with the administration of the affairs of learned Judges of the Family Court and assured this Court that the Family Courts have started complying with the directions issued in the above-referred judgment,” the Court said in the order passed on December 9..On merits, the Court on May 1 had earlier remanded the case to the Principal Judge of the family court for a fresh decision. It expressed hope that the case has been decided by now.The High Court added that if the case was still pending, it must be decided within three weeks after a copy of its December 9 order is received by those concerned. Advocate Sudhir Mehrotra assisted the High Court as an amicus curiae..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.