Taking note of the series of conflicting judgments on the said issue, a Division Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice PB Varale referred the matter to a larger bench.
The Supreme Court is set to decide whether alimony under Sections 24 and 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA) can be awarded in cases where a marriage has been declared void [Sukhdev Singh v. Sukhbir Kaur].
Due to conflicting judgments on this issue, a Division Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice PB Varale has referred the matter to a larger bench.
The Court has instructed the registry to bring the case before Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud for appropriate orders.
Learned counsel appearing for the parties state at the Bar that these matters need to be considered by a three-Judge Bench combination as there are conflicting views on the applicability of Sections 24 and 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 whether alimony can be granted where marriage has been declared void … Accordingly, let the papers be placed before Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India for passing appropriate orders,” the Court ordered.
Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) provides for interim maintenance during ongoing litigation or proceedings between spouses, while Section 25 allows for the granting of permanent alimony and maintenance upon a spouse’s application.
Additionally, Section 11 of the HMA stipulates that any marriage solemnized under the Act will be considered null and void if it involves bigamy, if the parties are in a prohibited relationship, or if they are sapindas to each other, as specified in Section 5 of the HMA. The Court was informed of conflicting rulings on the question of whether alimony can be awarded when the marriage itself is declared void.
The decisions which allowed for alimony in such cases are:
- Yamunabai Anantrao Adhav v. Anantrao Shivram Adhav & Another, (1988) 1 SCC 530
- Abbayolla Reddy v. Padmamma, AIR 1999 AP 19
- Navdeep Kaur v. Dilraj Singh, (2003) 1 HLR 100
- Bhausaheb @ Sandhu S/o Raguji Magar v. Leelabai W/o Bhausaheb Magar, (2004) AIR Bom. 283(FB)
- Savitaben Somabhai Bhatiya v. State of Gujarat & Others, (2005) 3 SCC 636
The decisions in which it was held that alimony should not be ordered in such cases are:
- Chand Dhawan v. Jawaharlal Dhawan, (1993) 3 SCC 406
- Rameshchandra Rampratapji Daga v. Rameshwari Rameshchandra Daga, (2005) 2 SCC 33
This issue is now slated to be settled by a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court.
