Effective Date of Grant of Maintenance Would Be From The Date of Filing of Application, Not The Date of Judgement: Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court has recently held that the claim for maintenance arises from the date of filing the application and not the date of judgment. Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary referred to the Supreme Court Decision in Rajnesh v. Neha & Anr. and modified the impugned order, directing payment of monthly allowance from the date of application.

The matter arises out of a revision application against the judgment of the Additional Principal Judge, Family Court, whereby it has allowed the petitioner's application and directed the opposite party to pay the monthly allowance of Rs. 1,500/- per month from the date of passing of the judgment.

The High Court refused to interfere with the quantum of maintenance and undertook the issue of the effective date of grant of maintenance. The issue is whether the effective date of grant of maintenance should be from the date of passing the impugned judgment or from the date of filing the maintenance application.

Advocate Arjun N. Deo, appearing for the petitioner, placed reliance on the case of Rajnesh v. Neha and Anr, where the Supreme Court issued direction that maintenance is awarded from the date on which the application was made before the court concerned, the right to claim maintenance must date back to the date of filing the application since the period during which the maintenance proceedings remained pending is not within the control of the applicant.

Relying on the apex court decision, the Jharkhand High Court held that the effective date of grant of maintenance as the date of the judgment, as fixed by the impugned judgment, is unsustainable in law. It directed the payment of the fixed monthly allowance from filing the application.

Case Title: Rinki Kumari @ Anita Kumari v. Kundan Kumar @ Kundan Kumar Singh

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Jha) 1

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