Both Parties In Maintenance Cases Shall File Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities: Supreme Court [Read Judgment]

Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities shall be filed by both parties in all maintenance proceedings, including pending proceedings before the concerned Family Court / District Court / Magistrates Court, as the case may be, throughout the country, the Supreme Court has directed in an important judgment delivered on Wednesday (4 November 2020).The bench comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and R. Subhash Reddy has annexed model affidavits as Enclosures I, II and III in the judgment. However, the court has observed that, in case the parties belong to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), or are living Below the Poverty Line (BPL), or are casual labourers, the requirement of filing the Affidavit would be dispensed with.The pleadings made in the applications for maintenance and replies filed should be responsible pleadings; if false statements and misrepresentations are made, the Court may consider initiation of proceeding u/S. 340 Cr.P.C., and for contempt of Court, the court observed. Details to be mentioned in the Affidavit filed by non-agrarian deponents are: Personal InformationDetails of Legal Proceedings and Maintenance being paid Details about dependant family membersMedical details of the Deponent and/or dependant family members Details of Children of the partiesDetails of Income of the Deponent, Assets (movable and immovable) owned by the Deponent, Details of Liabilities of the Deponent,Nature of employment (Self-employed persons / Professionals / Business Persons / Entrepreneur), Information provided by the Deponent with respect to the income, assets and liabilities of the other Spouse, Details of Applicant or the other Spouse, in case parties are Non-Resident Indians, Overseas Citizens of India, Foreign Nationals or Persons living abroad outside India.(The full model can be read in Enclosures provided in page 57 of the judgment)Parties do not disclose the correct details, and suppress vital informationThe court noticed that the issue of interim maintenance is presently decided on the basis of pleadings, where some amount of guess-work or rough estimation takes place, so as to make a prima facie assessment of the amount to be awarded. "It is often seen that both parties submit scanty material, do not disclose the correct details, and suppress vital information, which makes it difficult for the Family Courts to make an objective assessment for grant of interim maintenance. While there is a tendency on the part of the wife to exaggerate her needs, there is a corresponding tendency by the husband to conceal his actual income. It has therefore become necessary to lay down a procedure to streamline the proceedings, since a dependant wife, who has no other source of income, has to take recourse to borrowings from her parents / relatives during the interregnum to sustain herself and the minor children, till she begins receiving interim maintenance." , the court said.The court, however, observed, that Affidavit to be filed by parties residing in urban areas, would require to be entirely different from the one applicable to rural areas, or tribal areas. So Enclosures 1 and II deal with details for Affidavit for Non-Agrarian Deponents and (II) Details for Affidavit for Agrarian Deponents. Since the state of Meghalaya has a predominantly tribal population, which follows a matrilineal system of society, a separate model of Affidavit has been drafted for it. GuidelinesThe court has issued following guidelines also(a) The Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities annexed at Enclosures I, II and III of this judgment, as may be applicable, shall be filed by the parties in all maintenance proceedings, including pending proceedings before the concerned Family Court / District Court / Magistrate's Court, as the case may be, throughout the country;(b) The applicant making the claim for maintenance will be required to file a concise application accompanied with the Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets;(c) The respondent must submit the reply alongwith the Affidavit of Disclosure within a maximum period of four weeks. The Courts may not grant more than two opportunities for submission of the Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities to the respondent. If the respondent delays in filing the reply with the Affidavit, and seeks more than two adjournments for this purpose, the Court may consider exercising the power to strike off the defence of the respondent, if the conduct is found to be wilful and contumacious in delaying the proceedings. On the failure to file the Affidavit within the prescribed time, the Family Court may proceed to decide the application for maintenance on basis of the Affidavit filed by the applicant and the pleadings on record;(d) The above format may be modified by the concerned Court, if the exigencies of a case require the same. It would be left to the judicial discretion of the concerned Court, to issue necessary directions in this regard.(e) If apart from the information...

Both Parties In Maintenance Cases Shall File Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities: Supreme Court [Read Judgment]

Ashok Kini

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