1 wp4455-08.sxw pps IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPLICATION JURISDICTION Writ Petition No. 4455 of 2008 Hemali A. Ghelani .. Petitioner v/s. Ashish Ghelani ..Respondent Shri R.T.Lalwani with Mrs.S Jaykar Lalwani for the petitioner. Ms. Poornima Kantharia for the respondent. CORAM : R.Y.GANOO, J. DATED : 18th April, 2011 P.C. : 1. The respondent before this Court Mr. Ashish has filed a petition in the Family Court at Bandra for divorce under Section 13(1)(ia) and (ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 against the present petitioner Mrs. Hemali. Before commencement of the recording of evidence the application at Exhibit 12 was filed by the respondent calling upon the petitioner to produce Income Tax returns for specific years as set out in the said application at Exhibit 12. That application at Exhibit 12 was opposed by the petitioner herein and the learned Judge of the Family Court by Order dated 26.3.2008 granted the said 2 wp4455-08.sxw application. The learned Judge of the Family Court directed the petitioner herein to produce the Income Tax returns for the period from 1999 -2000 till date for inspection to the respondent herein. The operative part of the order is as follows: “The respondent is directed to produce the Income Tax return for the period from 1999-2000 till date for the inspection of the petitioner”. Being aggrieved by this order dated 26.3.2008 the petitioner has filed this writ petition. 2. The petition was admitted on 21.7.2008. After the date of admission of the petition, the evidence in the main divorce petition is being recorded. The court is informed that Ashish, the respondent herein has finished his turn for the purpose of recording of evidence in his capacity as the person who had filed the petition for divorce. The present petitioner Mrs. Hemali, who is the respondent in the main petition is under cross examination. 3. Learned Counsel Mr.Lalwani appearing on behalf of the petitioner took me through the record informing the Court that his client Mrs. Hemali has not filed an application for maintenance . He submitted 3 wp4455-08.sxw before the court that for the purpose of deciding the main petition on merits, the income tax returns for the relevant yeas are not at all required and that this aspect ought to have been considered by the learned Judge of Family Court. Learned Counsel Mr. Lalwani further submitted that in any case, the Judge of the Family Court has only directed that Income Tax returns of the petitioner be made available to the respondent for inspection. Learned Counsel Mr.Lalwani submitted that this order itself is improper in as much as there is no question of ordering a party to the litigation to produce certain documents for the inspection simplicitor. 4. Learned Counsel Mrs. Kantharia appearing on behalf of the respondent submitted that the impugned order is correctly passed by the learned Judge . According to her, income tax returns of the petitioner are very much relevant for the purpose of deciding the main dispute, though the petitioner is not seeking any maintenance. According to the learned Counsel for the respondent this application was filed by her by making use of the provisions of Order 11 Rule 14 and 15 of the Code of Civil Procedure. 4 wp4455-08.sxw 5. I have perused the application at Exhibit 12. A reading of the said application indicates that the respondent is interested in having copies of the Income Tax returns. Keeping that in mind, a peculiar prayer was made in application at Exhibit 12. It is as follows: “ This Honourable Court be pleased to direct the respondent to produce/ furnish/ give inspection of her Income Tax returns for the period 1999-2000 till date.” A reading of this prayer would go to show that the respondent herein wanted the petitioner to produce the document or furnish the copies or give inspection of the documents. Based on the arguments advanced before the learned Judge, the learned Judge of the Family Court passed an order directing the petitioner herein to produce the documents for inspection of the respondent herein. A reading of the order dated 26.3.2008 and in particular paragraphs 12, 13 and 14 it appears that the learned Judge wanted that the documents should be produced in the Court. However, while passing the order, the learned Judge has directed the petitioner to produce the documents for the inspection of the respondent. In my view, mere giving inspection of the Income Tax returns of the present petitioner to the respondent would not serve any purpose. If at all such inspection 5 wp4455-08.sxw were to be be given, it may give some information to the present respondent as regards the Income Tax matters of the petitioner. Looking to the impugned order it is clear that if the inspection is given to the respondent said documents cannot be perused by court as they were not ordered to be produced before the Court. The learned Judge got confused and ordered that mere inspection of the Income Tax returns be given to the respondent. Hence I am inclined to set aside order dated 26.3.2008 passed below Exhibit 12. 6. If at all the respondent wants that the income tax returns of the petitioner should be produced before the court it will be necessary for the respondent to file proper application with specific prayer in that behalf. If in future such an application is filed, the petitioner can suitably file reply and thereafter the learned Judge of Family Court will decide the said application on merits, without getting influenced by what transpired in proceedings concerning application at Exhibit 12 filed by respondent and order thereon including this order. 7. For the reasons mentioned aforesaid, following order is passed. 6 wp4455-08.sxw ORDER i) The Order dated 20.3.2009 is set aside. ii) If the respondent wants that the Income Tax returns of the petitioner should be before the Court, it will be necessary for the respondent to file specific application in that behalf. If such application is filed while the cross examination of the petitioner is pending, the learned Judge shall allow the petitioner to file her reply to it. After the filing of affidavits is complete, learned Judge of the Family Court shall decide the application on merits without getting influenced by what transpired in proceedings concerning application at Exhibit 12 filed by respondent and order thereon including this order. Needless to mention that during the time when such an application is pending, the learned Judge shall not proceed with the cross examination of the petitioner. The learned Judge also shall not proceed with the cross examination of the petitioner for a period of three weeks from the date of passing of the said order on the application which may be filed by the present respondent. Iii) In the facts and circumstances, there shall be no order as to 7 wp4455-08.sxw costs. iv) It is clarified that during the course of hearing of this petition, I have not gone into the question whether Income Tax returns are necessary for deciding the main petition by the learned Judge of Family Court. [R.Y.GANOO, J.]