Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Section 24, 28A – Interim maintenance – Non payment of – Striking off of defence – Striking off the defence of the spouse not honouring the court’s interim order is the instant relief to the needy one instead of waiting endlessly till its execution under Section 28A of the Act – Where the spouse who is to pay maintenance fails to discharge the liability, the other spouse cannot be forced to adopt time consuming execution proceedings for realising the amount – Court cannot be a mute spectator watching flagrant disobedience of the interim orders passed by it showing its helplessness in its instant implementation – It would, thus, be appropriate even in the absence of any specific provision to that effect in the Act, to strike off the defence of the erring spouse in exercise of its inherent power under Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure read with Section 21 of the Act rather than to leave the aggrieved party to seek its enforcement through execution as execution is a long and arduous procedure – Needless to say, the remedy under Section 28A of the Act regarding execution of decree or interim order does not stand obliterated or extinguished by striking off the defence of the defaulting spouse – Thus, where the spouse who is directed to pay the maintenance and litigation expenses, the legal consequences for its non-payment are that the defence of the said spouse is liable to be struck off.
read HERE 2015 PLRonline 0005
KRISHAN LAL v. JASWINDER KAUR
