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Manik Kutum v. Julie Kutum

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 332Decided 7 Mar 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 448 of 2019
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Background

The wife had filed an application under Section 125 CrPC seeking maintenance for herself and her minor daughter from her husband. The Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) in Assam awarded Rs. 2,000 per month for the daughter but refused maintenance to the wife herself, holding she was not the husband's legally married wife. On the wife's revision, the Gauhati High Court found as a fact that she was indeed the legally wedded wife, but instead of fixing her maintenance itself, remanded the matter back to the SDJM for a fresh inquiry and decision. The husband appealed to the Supreme Court against the High Court's order.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that once the High Court had already recorded a clear finding that the wife was legally married to the appellant, there was no justification for remanding the case back to the SDJM: a remand is appropriate only when further factual inquiry is genuinely needed or a factual issue remains undecided, which was not the case here since all relevant material (including the husband's income) was already on record. Noting that the husband, a Railway Protection Force constable, earned Rs. 30,000-35,000 per month and that the wife had no independent income, the Court itself fixed Rs. 8,000 per month as maintenance for the wife, in addition to the Rs. 2,000 per month already awarded for the daughter: a total of Rs. 10,000 per month payable from 1 March 2019 onward. The appeal was accordingly disposed of with this modification.

Lesson Learnt

Appellate and revisional courts should decide a maintenance claim themselves once the necessary facts (such as marital status and the paying spouse's income) are already established on record, rather than sending the matter back for a fresh inquiry that only delays relief to a dependent spouse or child.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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