Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench has cautioned against parallel litigation for maintenance, observing that although law permits a woman to seek maintenance under different statutory provisions, pursuing multiple proceedings adds to the burden of family courts and delays disposal of cases.Justice Subhash Vidyarthi made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by one Shashi Gupta seeking directions for expeditious disposal of an execution case pending before a family court in Lucknow.The family court, on June 4, 2024, had directed the husband to pay Rs 7,000 per month to his wife as maintenance. Gupta subsequently filed an execution case on July 19, 2024, seeking enforcement of the order.The bench noted that Gupta had also initiated proceedings under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, in which she had been awarded maintenance of Rs 4,500 per month.The court further noted that the parties had entered into a settlement under which the husband was required to pay Rs 1.51 lakh and return certain articles. They had also agreed to seek divorce by mutual consent. The husband paid Rs 50,000 under the settlement, but the mutual-consent divorce proceedings could not subsequently be taken forward.The court also took note of the fact that Gupta had neither instituted divorce proceedings nor sought restitution of conjugal rights. Despite this, she was pursuing proceedings in different forums to obtain maintenance.The HC observed that the law gives a person the option of initiating proceedings for maintenance under different statutory provisions. However, where a woman claims financial inability to meet even her basic needs, unnecessarily multiplying litigation for the same relief cannot be justified.
