Ad-Interim Maintenance Can Be Granted Without Filing Of Specific Application, Is Payable From Date Of Order: Delhi High Court

Distinguishing between interim maintenance and ad-interim maintenance, the Delhi High Court has held that the latter can be granted without filing of a specific application by the concerned party and is payable from the date of the order passed by the Court and not from the date of filing of maintenance application or petition.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said that Court can grant ad-interim maintenance to alleviate the hardship of the claimant, pending its decision on the grant of interim maintenance and determination of its quantum.

The Court held that interim maintenance is an allowance granted to the aggrieved party during the pendency of proceedings and till final adjudication, such as under Section 125 of Cr.P.C. or the Domestic Violence Act, generally after considering pleadings and material placed by both parties.

It added that ad-interim maintenance, on the other hand, is a provisional maintenance granted at the preliminary stage, i.e. prior to adjudicating even the interim maintenance, to alleviate urgent hardship being faced by a dependent spouse or child, pending a more detailed consideration of the case.

“Thus, while both are temporary in nature, the key difference lies in the stage of grant, extent of hearing accorded before the relief is granted, and the prima facie opinion formed by the Court,” it said.

It further referred to the Supreme Court ruling in Kusum Sharma v. Mahinder Kumar Sharma wherein it was held that the Court is empowered to grant ad-interim maintenance after hearing the parties and the importance of filing comprehensive affidavits of assets, income, and expenditure by both parties for a fair determination of maintenance was emphasized.

“Accordingly, for determining ad-interim maintenance, the procedure laid down in Kusum Sharma v. Mahinder Kumar Sharma (supra) would continue to govern the field, since till date, the observation regarding the same has neither been interfered nor set-aside by the Hon'ble Supreme Court,” the Court held.

Justice Sharma however clarified that ad-interim maintenance is not to be granted as a matter of routine in every case and that it is a discretionary relief, to be exercised judiciously by the Court only where the facts and circumstances so warrant.

Furthermore, the Court held that to direct payment of ad-interim maintenance from the date of filing of the maintenance application, even when the matter has not yet been heard fully on merits, not even for the purpose of deciding interim maintenance , would result in imposing a financial burden for a past period without the benefit of adequate judicial examination or supporting material on record.

“Therefore, necessarily since an order of ad-interim maintenance is being passed by the Court itself exercising its jurisdiction in view of the peculiar circumstances of a case and in absence of proper pleadings, it will have to be passed from the date of its order i.e. the date the Court exercises its jurisdiction,” it concluded.

The Court was dealing with a husband's plea challenging a family court order directing him to pay ad-interim maintenance of Rs. 6,000 per month to the wife, from the date of filing of maintenance application by her.

Disposing of the plea, the Court held that the Family Court committed no error in granting ad-interim maintenance to the wife during the pendency of her interim maintenance application under Section 125 of Cr.P.C.

However, it said that the direction to make such payment from the date of filing of the application, rather than the date of the order, was not sustainable.

“Since ad-interim maintenance is a tentative relief granted at an early stage without full adjudication, directing its payment retrospectively, prior to the order, would not be justified. To that extent, the impugned order dated 24.05.2024 is required to be modified,” the Court said.

Title: NK v. K

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