PRAYAGRAJ, Apr 26: The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition filed by an advocate seeking expeditious disposal of a maintenance case against his wife, terming the litigation “vexatious” and “born out of pretences”.
Justice Vinod Diwakar imposed a compensatory cost of Rs 15 lakh on the petitioner-husband for suppressing material facts in his affidavits and subjecting his wife to systemic depletion.
The court observed that the man, an able-bodied practising advocate, had not only concealed a prior maintenance order in his favour, but also diverted substantial personal loans taken by his wife for his own “luxurious life” and “alcoholic drinks”.
According to the facts of the case, the petitioner and the respondent were married on May 18, 2019. At the time, both were preparing for competitive examinations. Shortly after, the wife secured a job as an additional private secretary in the Allahabad High Court, while the petitioner, despite being a law graduate and a registered advocate, remained unemployed.
Soon disputes arose, leading to multiple litigations. The husband filed a maintenance application before a principal judge in the family court in Etawah.
He then approached the high court with a prayer to expedite the proceedings, claiming that he had no independent source of income for survival.
It was submitted on behalf of the wife that on November 10, 2020, her husband took a personal loan of Rs 11.50 lakh from her salary account in the SBI having a branch in the Lucknow bench of the high court by “fraudulently” taking her into confidence on a false promise to purchase a plot of land.
On October 6, 2022, the petitioner again took a personal loan of Rs 13.56 lakh to be repaid in six years from the respondent’s salary account in the Jhalwa branch of the SBI in Prayagraj.
The respondent-wife has been paying a monthly EMI of Rs 26,020 since then, which she will pay till October, 2028.
According to the respondent, the loan was taken under the guise of purchasing a plot, but the petitioner fraudulently kept transferring the loan amount into his personal account through UPI and exhausted it on alcoholic drinks, luxurious lifestyle, and other nefarious activities.
It was also argued that “fed up by the petitioner, the wife filed a divorce petition, and on May 20, 2025, her husband filed an application for maintenance based on concocted and false averments”.
Allowing the application, the family court on September 15, 2025, directed the wife to pay Rs 5,000 per month as interim maintenance and Rs 10,000 towards litigation expenses.
Challenging the order, the wife filed a review application, which is pending before the family court in Prayagraj.
After going through the entire conduct of the petitioner, the high court observed, “Needless to mention, the entire loan amount has been unauthorisedly misused by the petitioner-husband as reflected from the pattern of withdrawal of the amount, while some transactions reflect a large amount had been transferred through UPI and other similar modes.”
“In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, this court is of the considered opinion that the present petition does not warrant the exercise of supervisory jurisdiction vested with this court.
“Accordingly, the equity demands that the present petition be dismissed with the compensatory cost of Rs 15,00,000 to be given to the respondent-wife within six weeks from today by way of a demand draft,” it said.
In case of non-deposit of the cost money, the court directed the district magistrate in Etawah to recover the same as arrears of land revenue within three months on expiry of the time granted to the petitioner.
The court also directed the district magistrate to constitute a committee to inquire into the movable and immovable assets owned and possessed by the petitioner immediately after the receipt of a copy of the court order for record and compliance with its terms. (PTI)
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