New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday posted for October 3 the hearing on the issue of whether alimony can be granted under the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act when a marriage has been declared void.
Issue was referred to a larger bench by a division bench of apex court
The issue was referred to a larger bench by a division bench of the apex court in August after the counsels drew the attention of the court that there are conflicting views on the applicability of sections 24 (dealing with the issue of providing interim maintenance during ongoing litigation between spouses) and 25 (allowing for the grant of permanent alimony and maintenance) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 whether alimony can be awarded where marriage has been declared void.
“Learned counsel appearing for the parties state at the Bar that these matters need to be considered by a Three Judge Bench combination as there are conflicting views on the applicability of Sections 24 and 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 whether alimony can be granted where marriage has been declared void. Accordingly, let the papers be placed before Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India for passing appropriate orders,” a division bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Prasanna B Varale said in the order dated August 22 while referring the matter to a larger bench.
Subsequently, a three-judge bench has been constituted to settle the issue.
Three-judge bench directed parties to file compilation of judgments they will rely upon
A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Augustine G Masih, while posting the matter for October 3 on Thursday (September 5) and observing that the issue will arise in number of case and it is a very important question to be decided, directed the parties to the matter to file their written submissions. The top court also directed them to file compilation of judgments they will rely upon during the hearing of the issue, Livelaw reported.
Judgments in favour of granting alimony
Judgments which are in favour of granting alimony in such marriages are – Yamunabai Anantrao Adhav Vs. Anantrao Shivram Adhav & Another, Abbayolla Reddy Vs. Padmamma, Navdeep Kaur Vs. Dilraj Singh, Bhausaheb @ Sandhu S/o Raguji Magar Vs. Leelabai W/o Bhausaheb Magar and Savitaben Somabhai Bhatiya Vs. State of Gujarat & Others.
Judgements against granting alimony
Judgments which are against granting alimony in such marriages are – Chand Dhawan Vs.Jawaharlal Dhawan and Rameshchandra Rampratapji Daga Vs. Rameshwari Rameshchandra Daga.