The high court has said that courts of justice cannot stipulate a condition to a party which he or she will not be in a position to comply with. Justice Krishna S Dixit said this while allowing the petition filed by the petitioner wife challenging the order passed by a family court to bear the air travel expenses of the husband so as to cross examine him.
The husband had filed a petition before the family court in 2018 seeking dissolution of the marriage that was solemnized in June 2014. The family court had also awarded Rs 20,000 per month as maintenance to the wife. While the trial of the case was half way through, the wife submitted an application seeking permission to further cross examine the husband.
The family court granted permission on November 16, 2022, but with a condition of making payment for the journey of the husband, who is at present residing in the United States. Challenging this, the wife argued that she is being paid a monthly maintenance of Rs. 20,000 and some of that still remaining due. She further contended that the condition for making a payment of about Rs 1.65 lakh could not have been stipulated.
The high court said that putting a condition of the kind would virtually amount to foreclosing petitioner’s right to cross-examine/further cross examine the husband, that too in a serious matter in which her marriage is at stake.
“It is not that the respondent-husband is a poor gentleman and therefore he could not afford to spend for his travel to India for prosecuting the Marriage Dissolution Case which he himself has instituted. If the petitioner-wife had instituted it, different considerations would have arisen. May be that, there is some fault that lies with the petitioner in not cross-examining the respondent whilst in Bengaluru. A plausible explanation is offered for that lapse. It is not that the petitioner does not agree for cross-examining the respondent by video-conferencing, with which he too is comfortable,” Justice Krishna Dixit said.
The high court has requested the family court to organize cross examination/further cross examination, subject to convenience of both the sides. The bench has also requested the family court to dispose of the matrimonial case, preferably within a period of four months.