The Punjab and Haryana high court

CHANDIGARH: In what is probably a first such case in the country, the Punjab and Haryana high court has accepted the plea of a husband to provide food and clothes to his estranged wife in the form of maintenance, instead of a fixed amount in the form of maintenance.

The matter pertains to Bhiwani district , where the husband had approached the HC challenging the order of a lower court directing him to pay a fixed monthly maintenance to his wife. Challenging the order, the husband submitted that he was earlier working in a company and that company has been closed down. His counsel submitted that instead of making fixed payment, the petitioner was ready to provide 20kg rice, 5kg sugar, 5kg pulses, 15kg wheat and 5kg pure ghee every month. He also offered to provide his estranged wife a set of clothes every four months and two litre milk every day.

Accepting the offer, Justice Raj Shekhar Atri of the HC, in his order released on Wednesday, directed the petitioner “to provide the aforesaid articles to respondent (wife) within three days from today”. He judge further directed the petitioner to clear the maintenance arrears and submit an affidavit in this regard on the next date of hearing.

Adjourning the matter for hearing on July 25, Justice Atri further directed the husband to be present before this court on the next date.

In this case, the family court of district Bhiwani had directed the husband to pay maintenance amount to wife under section 125 of criminal procedure code. Aggrieved from the family court orders, the husband had challenged it before the HC.

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