Delhi High Court: Sanjeev Sachdeva, J. allowed a revision petition and set aside the order of the Appellate Court whereby it had dismissed the appeal filed by the petitioner (husband) on the ground that he failed to deposit the entire arrears of maintenance despite several opportunities.
The husband was directed by the trial court to pay a monthly maintenance amount of Rs 35,000 to his wife. He, however, failed to pay the amount and coercive steps were taken by the trial court. Challenging the said order, the husband filed an appeal before the Appellate Court which was dismissed by the impugned order.
Mani Mittal and Pratush Mittal, Advocates, appeared for the husband before the High Court. Per contra, the wife was represented by Bharti Sharma and S.K. Sharma, Advocates.
The High Court noted that the difference of opinions on the subject — as was evident from the decisions rendered by Single Judges in Rajeev Preenja v. Sarika, 2009 SCC OnLine Del 458 — attained finality by a decision of the Division Bench in Sabina Sahdev v. Vidur Sahdev, 2018 SCC OnLine Del 9747. In Sabina Sahdev Case, it was held that “appeal or revision cannot be dismissed solely on the ground of failure to pre-deposit the maintenance amount and the same would have been decided on merits.” Accordingly, the Court held in the present case that the Appellate Court took a contrary view which was not sustainable. Therefore, the impugned order was set aside and the appeal was restored to its original number. [Sourav Sharma v. Neetu Sharma, 2019 SCC OnLine Del 8480, decided on 14-05-2019]