Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Dec 4: High Court has stayed the imprisonment awarded by trial court to a person on account of default in payment of arrears to his wife and directed the jail authorities to release him from custody.
Petitioner Abdul Aziz Rather challenged the order of Family Court Srinagar whereby he was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of one month for not paying arrears of maintenance to his wife.
His counsel Umer Mir submitted before the court that the procedure adopted by the trial court is unknown in law as there is no power vested with a Magistrate or Family Court to sentence a person to rigorous imprisonment for non-payment of arrears of maintenance.
Justice Sanjay Dhar said that the court below instead of passing such kind of order has to adopt the procedure prescribed under section 421 of CrPC for recovery of arrears of maintenance.
Apart from awarding sentence to the petitioner, Family court also directed for attachment of his movable property with the direction for auctioning the same in order to give the sale proceeds of the said movable property to his wife.
Justice Dhar after having heard the matter said the case of interim relief is made out by the advocate Mir and stayed the order of Family Court to the extent of awarding sentence to the petitioner-Rather and directed the Superintendent of Central Jail Srinagar to release him.
However, with regard to attachment of his movable property, court said the same shall remain intact till the petitioner-Rather deposits the arrears of maintenance before the court below.
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