No Absolute Rider To Deposit Entire Maintenance Amount Prior To Entertainment Of Statutory Remedy: Delhi HC [Read Judgment]

‘It would be most unjust and unreasonable to bar his statutory remedy of revision/ appeal as the case may be, merely because he may not be in a position to deposit the entire arrears of interim maintenance.’The Delhi High Court in Sabina Sahdev v. Vidur Sahdev has held that there cannot be an absolute rider that the entire maintenance amount, as granted by the trial court, should be. ‘It would be most unjust and unreasonable to bar his statutory remedy of revision/ appeal as the case may be, merely because he may not be in a position to deposit the entire arrears of interim maintenance.’ The Delhi High Court in Sabina Sahdev v. Vidur Sahdev has held that there cannot be an absolute rider that the entire maintenance amount, as granted by the trial court, should be deposited prior to the entertainment of the statutory remedy. In Rajeev Preenja v. Sarika & Ors., a single bench of the high court made a general order directing all sessions courts to insist, without exception, while hearing criminal revisions under Section 399 CrPC against orders granting interim maintenance under Section 125 CrPC, for deposit of the entire arrears before entertaining the revision petition. The Issue The issue before the division bench comprising Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice PS Teji was whether the single judge while deciding Rajeev Preenja could have issued a general direction barring entertainment of criminal revisions under Section 399 read with Section 401 CrPC against orders granting interim maintenance to the wife/ child under Section 125 CrPC, unless the entire arrears of maintenance up to date were first deposited.