m THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BILASPUR (C.G.I Writ Petitionl 227} No. &\3-^. /2010 Petitioner :- Non applicant \0/^ ^c^- /•1\^1 .l.-~ ^J^ €K'..•••6tfy''.^ 1° ^^s^w ,0?. '\*^-.--'' '•t^^y y'y,- ^y Respondent Applicant Smt . Neha Khandelwal W/o Devesh Khandelwal, Aged about 30 Years, Occupation House wife, Resident of Dipara Para, Near Agrawal Dharmasala, High Coiu-t Road, BUaspur (C.G.) Presently residing at Matrimonial house C/o O.P. Khandelwal R/o 386 Samata Colony, Raipiu- (C.G.) Versus Devesh Khandelwal S/o Radheshyam Khandelwal, Aged about 35 years , R/o Dipara para, Near Agrawal Dhramsala, High Court Road Bilaspur (C.G.) WRIT PETITION UND^^ARTICLES 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA iati ^^^ji^^^^l [..•' HIGHCOURTOFCHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR Sinale Bench: Hon^jeAhri Jystice Prashant Kumar hflishra Writ Petition (227) No.2127 of 2010 Petitioner Respondent versus Smt. Neha Khandelwal Devesh Khandelwal Present: Shri A.K.Patil, counsel forthe petitioner. Shri Amit Sharma, counsel for the respondent. Writ Petition underArticle 227 oftheConstitution_of India ORAL ORDER ith (Passed on 9"' November, 2010) Heard. 2. The petitioner has called in question the legality and validity of the order passed by the family Court rejecting her prayer for grant of interim maintenance of Rs.3,000/- permonth and litigation expenses of Rs.5,000/- under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (henceforth 'the Act'). 3. The respondent/husband has preferred a suit for grant of a decree of divorce. The parties were married on 13-2-2005. In the application for grant of divorce, it is stated that because of dispute a meeting was convened on 1-4-2007 in front of the friends and relatives belonging to the society in which both the parties decided to be separated and seek a decree for divorce. According to the liusband, it was agreed in the said meeting that a sum of Rs.4 Lakhs ^ 2 would be deposited with one Ramesh Meghani, which shall be paid fcb to the petitioner at the end of trial. 4. The petitioner/wife has also filed an application under Section 9 of the Act for restitution of conjugal rights in the month of December, 2007. In the saidapplication, it has been mentioned that she was pressurised by the respondent/husband to accord consent for seeking divorce and her signature was obtained by exerting force and undue influence. The suit for divorce pending in the Court at Bjlaspur has been transferred to the Court at Raipur by an order passed by this Court on 10-11-2008 in Transfer Petition (C.) No.2/2008. 5. The petitioner moved an application for grant of interim maintenance of Rs.3,000/- per month and litigation expenses of Rs.5,000/- on submission that she has no independent source of income and is somehow pulling on her life on the mercy of her parents. The respondent has objected to the application on submission thatin pursuance to the settlement, whichtook place in the Panchayat meeting, he has deposited a sum of Rs.4 Lakhs with Ramesh Meghani, therefore, he is not liable to pay the amount of interim maintenance to the petitioner/wife. An affidavit of Ramesh Meghani and the agreement has been filed along with the affidavit of the respondent/husband in this Court today. Prima facie, it would "appear that even if any such agreement was entered into between the parties, which the petitioner is disputing, the amount of Rs.4 Lakhs is to be paid when the litigation ends and the decree for divorce is passed in favour of the respondenVhusband. Thus, the ^f^! ,L.Kt ll,].llB,. , ; ,; ^,. petitioner/wife has neither been paid Rs.4 Lakhs nor she is receiving anything as interim maintenance to survive as she has no means of income. 6. In spite of opportunity, the respondent/husband has chosen not to file any return disputing the assertion made by the petitioner that she needs Rs.3,000/- per month as interim maintenance. 7. In view of the above, it is directed that the respondent/husband shall pay Rs.3,000/- per month as interim maintenance to the petitioner/wife from the date she entered appearance in the suit before the family Couri:. All arrears shall be paid to the petitioner/wife within a period of one month from today. In addition to the interim maintenance, the respondent shall also pay an amount of Rs.5,000/- as litigation expenses to the petitioner, which shall also be paid within a period of one month from today. 8. With the aforesaid observations, the writ petition stands allowed. There shall be no order as to costs. Gopal Sd//- Prashant Kumar Mishra Judge