The court appreciated amicus curiae Sharath Chandran, senior counsel N Jothi and T Murugamanickam for their in-depth submissions on the legal issue.”
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Tamil Nadu
No appeal on interim maintenance orders: Madras HC
The bench also held that an order of interim maintenance/pendente lite maintenance made under section 24 of HMA is only for a period of time and it is an interlocutory order, and can be reviewed.
Madaras High Court. File(File Photo)
R Sivakumar
Updated on:
22 Mar 2024, 8:27 am
2 min read
CHENNAI: A division bench of the Madras High Court has ruled that an appeal cannot be made against orders of interim maintenance given under section 24 of The Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) or under section 10 of the Family Courts Act (FCA), but a revision of such order can be sought under Article 227 of the Constitution in the high court because such interim maintenance orders are interlocutory in nature.
The bench of justices M Sundar and K Govindarajan Thilakavadi pronounced the verdict on Thursday on a batch of petitions relating to appeals against interim order of maintenance under both these Acts and petitions questioning whether appeals can be filed or not.
After holding elaborate discussion on the legal issue the bench concluded, “Against an order of interim maintenance / pendente lite (pending litigation) maintenance made under Section 24 of The Hindu Marriage Act, an appeal will not lie either under Section 28 of Hindu Marriage Act or under Section 19 of Family Courts Act.”
“However, a revision under Article 227 of will lie to this court (HC) against an order of interim maintenance / pendente lite maintenance made under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act irrespective of whether the interim order is made by a regular civil court or a family court.”
The bench also held that an order of interim maintenance/pendente lite maintenance made under section 24 of HMA is only for a period of time and it is an interlocutory order, and can be reviewed. The order for interim maintenance is given based on the assets and the liabilities and not based on full-fledged trial in the case, the bench pointed out. The court exempted the petitioners who preferred appeals against interim orders from the time limit for filing revision petitions in the wake of its ruling.
Referring to an amendment made in 1976 to the HMA, the court said amendment to section 28 was made to ensure that appeals can be made only in respect of decrees and orders of permanent nature as appeals against interim orders.
The court appreciated amicus curiae Sharath Chandran, senior counsel N Jothi and T Murugamanickam for their in-depth submissions on the legal issue.”
https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2024/Mar/22/no-appeal-on-interim-maintenance-orders-madras-hc#:~:text=NATION,the%20legal%20issue.
