An insider View of the Indian Judicial System

The Madhya Pradesh High Court about 2 weeks ago decided to award a monthly allowance to a woman who had been living in a Live in relationship with a man for a considerable time, even if they were not legally married. In this case a man and a woman had been cohabiting for a while together and they even shared a child from that relationship, the MP High court ordered the man to pay a monthly allowance of 1500 rupees to the woman.

This step was taken by the MP high court while recognising the rights of women who are in long term live in relationships. This ruling was ordered when a petitioner had challenged the order of the court asking a man to pay 1500 rupees to a woman with whom he was in a live in relationship and also shared a kid. The court issued an order saying that maintenance cannot be denied to a woman if the live in relationship is long term has been proven even if it is without any legal wedding. The court agreed and said that a long term live in relationship constitutes a "relationship in the nature of marriage". The court further says that a a woman who has been in live in relationship and has contributed financially and domestically with the proven cohabitation for the live in deserves to be given financial support.

This judgement plays a vital role in recognising the rights of women in live in relationships which are very common in today's society in India. As said and believed because live in relationships are not formally recognised as marriages, given the fact that a women gives her years, gives up her career and other things including being emotionally invested in that very relationship.

Im going to tell you a real story of a woman who has struggled and is still struggling in the court of law for justice, she is struggling for what is rightly hers without infringing anyone's rights. Yet for the last 14 years all she has gotten from the courts is false hopes and dates. It makes one question the Indian Legal System and how the wheels of justice move agonisingly slowly and the way in which it is dispensed and the fact that it ends up costing a person at most times their own life and yet justice has not prevailed.

In a case that was Filed in the year 2010, Shamili (Complainant) filed a case against her husband Nandish (respondent). Shamili along with her 2 minor children were turned out of the house by her husband. The truth behind this whole matter was that this was not the first time that Shamili's husband had turned her out of the house, he used to do this very often, given the fact that Shamili's whole family was settled abroad she had no support or family to look upto in such situations. This very truth because Nandish's strength, this was the very thing he used against her everyday of their marriage life. Nandish was a powerful and rich businessman who had one of the most talented people working for him, and need it be said money was never an area of concern for him.

Shamili was turned out of the house with her 2 minor kids Pallavi who was 11 years old at that time and Angad who was 9 years old. Shamili having nowhere to go sought help of an uncle who very humbly offered roof over their head for as long as they needed. Never once during the first few months had shamili thought of seeking divorce from her husband all she wanted was to be able to live with his family who loved her dearly. Shamili worked over 16 hours a day to put food on the table for her children, she tried to give them everything, taking them for tuitions, swimming etc. She with all the limited means tried to make a small living for them, the children barely saw her in those days. She struggled with insomnia due to excessive stress, all that happened in the house took a toll on both the kids especially Pallavi who being the eldest child saw her father for who he truly was. The children never went for trips, birthday parties or did anything a child in their age would normally do, mainly because they never had the money. To be able to afford an ice cream in those days became difficult.

After a few months Shamili chose to tell her family what had happened, she initially just spoke to her elder brother, who along with her close friends advised her to seek divorce. She was asked to file criminal proceedings as well against her husband Nandish who had duped her and emptied the bank accounts of the kids of any money that they had. All said and done these proceedings were filed, Nandish filed for divorce in Australia as he was a citizen there as well, Shamili not having the finances could not contest and within a period of 90 days with an ex parte order the divorce was granted. Shamili too filed for maintenance in the court of law to help her and the kid survive.

The court Initially awarded her a maintenance of 60,000 rupees a month along with 10,000 each for the kids, this was awarded under Section 125 of the CrPC. She and her lawyers knew that Nandish was earning in crores and his worth was unfathomable, but like every person in court he claimed to have lost everything and claimed he had come to the streets and had nothing to give to his estranged wife and children. The court works on proof, nothing is believed in court until you have proof to support your claims. Shamili and her Lawyer worked day and night to accumulate proof of his assets not because she was greedy or because she wanted to be rich but because she knew in today's time and the rising Inflation with the amount been decided raising 2 kids will not be easy. She knew her husband bought judges, lawyers, police officials basically anyone who could have been proved to be of any assistance to her, thereby closing all doors for her survival.

Finally after months of hard work they gathered all proof necessary to prove his assets, his month earning and the court having to have paid attention to the new proof under section 127 of the CrPC modified the maintenance to 10 Lakhs to Shamili and 5 Lakhs each to the kids. Now when someone hears this they think that's great, they are settled for life, they will be comfortable but lemme tell you the grass is always seems greener on the other side.

Yes the court modified the maintenance, Yes Nandish was asked to pay the amount and all that had accumulated over the years, but here is the twist, Shamili never saw the money even after 14 years she and her kids are struggling to get maintenance. The court dates keep coming and Nandish uses his power to procrastinate having to pay. This journey of seeking justice has cost the kids their childhood, they were once minors badly in need of money to survive now both the kids are in their 20's almost finished with college.

So the Indian Judicial system has certain good advantages and certain disadvantages, as we know does everything in life. The Indian system after years of struggle paid attention to the woes of the Women and children who have been turned out of the house of the husband. By the provision of Article 125 of CrPC a wife and her children are entitled to receive an alimony or commonly known as maintenance in court of law, from the estranged husband on a monthly basis for the survival and fulfilment of the one's daily needs. Now one thinks as to how is this particular amount decided and exactly what criteria is followed, well the answer to this question is plain and simple. The court agrees to the fact that both the wife and children are entitled to the life they were used to living with the husband and at the same time the earning capacity of the husband is also taken into account while the amount is being decided. The husband at no point can deny his wife and children this maintenance, it is their legal right and in this case the law supports both.

There is a separate amount of maintenance that is given to the wife and the children by the court of law, if at any point the wife does get married the alimony she receives does stop thereafter as she is no more dependent on the estranged husband to maintain her. A boy child is entitled to maintenance until the day he completes his studies which is basically until he attains majority, whereas in some parts of the law it is said that a girl child is liable for maintenance until she get's married, but let's be honest there is a lot of contention on this point and there is not clear cute decision or ruling that has been issued for the same. Ofcourse there are certain criteria's under which a husband is protected from unnecessary cruelty from the wife, but I won't bore you with the details.

This rule applies to both Legitimate as well as Illegitimate children as the court of law does not differentiate between either. If at any point the husband fails to pay the amount by the stipulated date he may be fined or even reprimanded by the court of law.

Article 127 CrPC deals with the Alteration of Maintenance that a wife of chile receive from the court. These alterations can be to increase the stated alimony or a one time settlement. In a recent case in Chandigarh an application was filed by a lawyer under this very Article in favour of his client who at one time was awarded 5000 rupees as monthly maintenance and having seen the inflation in today's time and the growing expenses of the children and their education, the court took the application into consideration and the maintenance that was granted to the mother and daughter was modified keeping all the growing trends in mind.