IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M.N.KRISHNAN THURSDAY, THE 4TH MARCH 2010 / 13TH PHALGUNA 1931 RPFC.No. 178 of 2009() ---------------------- MC.45/2008 of FAMILY COURT, KASARAGOD. .................... PETITIONER (S): RESPONDENT: ------------------------------------------------- M.A. GOPAKUMAR, AGED 38 YEARS, S/O.M.A. KUNHIKRISHNAN, RESIDING AT ASOK NAGAR, P.O. KASARAGOD. BY ADVS. MR.M.SASINDRAN, MR.M.V.BIPIN. RESPONDENT(S): PETITIONER: ---------------------------------------------- P.V. VANITHA, AGED 28 YEARS, W/O.M.A. GOPAKUMAR, VANNARA VAYAL, HARIPURAM, PULLUR VILLAGE, PULLUR.P.O, KASARAGOD DISTRICT. BY ADV. MR.SUNNY MATHEW THIS REV.PETITION(FAMILY COURT) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 04/03/2010, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING: Kss M.N. KRISHNAN, J. ........................................... R.P.(F.C).No.178 OF 2009 ............................................. Dated this the 4th day of March, 2010. O R D E R This revision is preferred against the order of the Family Court, Kasaragod in M.C.No.45/2008. The wife moved an application for maintenance against the husband and the family court awarded a sum of Rs.2,000/= as maintenance to the wife. Aggrieved by the liability to pay maintenance as well as the quantum, the husband has come up in revision. 2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and perused the records. The beautifully worded judgment of the Family Court Judge creates confusion in the mind of this Court regarding the stand taken by him for the reason that he is vascilating between the two. Therefore with the help of the learned counsel for the revision petitioner I had read the entire evidence and documents. 3. A polio affected man had been married by the petitioner in the maintenance case and disputes had started after two months from the date of the marriage. The husband is having two divorced sisters, their children and : 2 : R.P.(F.C).No.178 OF 2009 parents in the house. The grievance of the wife is to the effect that the husband is playing the role of a puppet in the hands of the sisters and mother and is totally excluding her and it is even accused that they never allowed her to sleep with the husband. 4. On the other hand the husband would contend that the wife is only daughter in the house nurtured by the grandfather and she never got accustomed to the conditions in the matrimonial house and therefore picked up quarrels and wanted to be away from the matrimonial home. It is seen that the husband shifted his residence to a place which was about 4 km away from the residence of the wife and 30 km away from the house of him and that also did not last long. One can visualize some difficulties when one has to live with the divorced sisters of the husband. 5. Lastly the husband put the law in motion by issuing a notice seeking for divorce. It has also come out in evidence that he cannot take back the wife now. The wife would assert in examination that even now she is prepared to join with the husband provided she is taken to an : 3 : R.P.(F.C).No.178 OF 2009 independent house. 6. So really there is no love lost between the husband and wife but the circumstances make them separated. It is quite unfortunate. One cannot attribute that the wife is living without any cause away from the husband and her intention to join him is also projected in the evidence. So considering all these materials, it may not be possible for the court to hold that she cannot claim maintenance. 7. Now turning to the quantum. Even according to the wife, the husband's family consists of parents, divorced sisters and their children. The husband has also deposed before the court that he is maintaining all of them but would contend that the father has also got a pension of Rs.3,000/=. A pension of Rs.3,000/= may not be suffice to meet the requirements of a family where there are large number of members. The husband is only an LD Clerk in the Sales tax Department and it is submitted that his carry home salary is about Rs.4,500/=. So he is also a man who is saddled with the responsibility of looking after his sisters, their children and parents. He has also to go for job neatly : 4 : R.P.(F.C).No.178 OF 2009 dressed and there will be personal expense for him as well. He is also expected to keep the dignity of his job. Therefore the amount of Rs.2,000/=, if ordered to be paid as maintenance, will certainly cause difficulty to the revision petitioner as well. The wife is living in an environment where there is nobody else. Only mother and grandfather are there and so taking into consideration these materials, I feel that the maintenance ordered can be modified from Rs.2,000/= to Rs.1,250/=. 8. Therefore the revision petition is disposed of by modifying the order of maintenance from Rs.2,000/= to Rs.1,250/= payable from the date of the order. Disposed of accordingly. M.N. KRISHNAN, JUDGE cl : 5 : R.P.(F.C).No.178 OF 2009