• Free Legal Aid under Article 39A

Husband - foreign national of Indian origin residing outside India.
Wife - Indian national residing in India.
Marriage was registered under Hindu Marriage Act in India.

After few months of marriage, relationship strained due to difference of opinion (ego) and other family members interference between husband & wife relationship.

Wife is well qualified and worked in a high paid job over 15 years. She continued to work for 8 months after the marriage. She then deliberately resigned without husband knowing. She informed him after the resignation stating that she would be moving to husband's place abroad hence resigned.

4 months later, she sent a lawyer/legal notice stating that she is jobless therefore husband to arrange house and provide maintenance within few weeks, failing she would take legal action for maintenance and claim legal costs from husband.

1. Should he start paying her immediately? or Wait.

2. Can he refer her to Article 39A and her eligibility for "Free Legal Aid" in his reply to the notice. Therefore, he is not liable for inflated/expensive legal costs if she choose not to benefit from this provision.

She is claiming that she is without income and no other means to support her, therefore, if her claim is true, she must be eligible for Free Legal Aid under 39A.

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Asked 4 years ago in Family Law
Religion: Hindu

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13 Answers

1. Maintenance shall not be given to a well qualified wife. Various courts have developed this theory with regards to the maintenance claim of wife.

2. You may deposit certain sustainence allowance to her account and you may later fight the case of she files a case for maintenance.

 

regards

Anilesh Tewari
Advocate, New Delhi
18077 Answers
377 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Wait for the court order to pay the amount and contest same before court if she files for maintenance.

2. See she can claim the legal expenses for filing the case upto some extent though same can be contested and court shall not grant her complete amount.

The court will not allow the complete inflated amount demanded by her.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25514 Answers
179 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Legal aid is available to her because her existing status is jobless. Moreover being a woman she is entitled to get legal aid. Her previous job can not be considered while deciding her maintenance and eligibility for getting legal aid 

Raghuvir G. Chaudhary
Advocate, Ahmedabad
48 Answers
4 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. WELL if the wife is staying separately and is without any job then it is the bounden duty of the husband to maintain her and there is no need to take legal recourse. However of you feel she has deliberately left the job and has got separated herself from you then you may wait till the court passes any order.

2. There is no obligation that she will have to take free legal aid only to enable herself to get eligible for maintenance. The duty of husband to maintain his wife is 25% of his income.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22779 Answers
484 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

No husband should not start paying the maintenance and he should file a written statement with objection to her plaint.

That she is well educated person and capable of earning high salary and left job just to grab money from you.

No he cannot file application under section 39A for free legal aid to wife. if he does so than he is admitting to the fact that she is not able to earn her bread and expenses.

Mohit Kapoor
Advocate, Rohtak
10687 Answers
7 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

The maintenance amount should  be paid other wise the court may issue bailable and non bailable warrant against you. Free legal aid is required when the wife is unable to pay and in case of matrimonial disputes, the husband pays for all the reasonable legal expenses. Art 39A id a different thing. It comes under the directive principles of state policy of the constitution of India.

Regards 

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14083 Answers
65 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) if wife is not working she is entitled to maintenance 

 

2) no harm in paying wife maintenance 

 

3) no need to refer to article 39 A  in your reply 

 

4) even if she engages lawyer for filing maintenance application she would not get actual costs incurred by her 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94522 Answers
7485 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hi

You respond to her notice giving all details pertaining to her educational qualifications, her last position held, salary drawn and also her capacity to earn. 

If possible collate and share her bank statement etc.

As far as obtaining Legal Aid, the aggrieved has to approach for said favour.

In your case, you can get favourable orders in your favour going by the details shared in your post (if the same are true and you need to prove them).

You demonstrate her bad intentions to harass you.

S Srinivasa Prasad
Advocate, Hyderabad
2876 Answers
9 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

You cam pay her as per your mutual settlement or after order of Court. She can claim legal aid so can you if you are in that low income category

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
31807 Answers
175 Consultations

4.1 on 5.0

- Any payout if interested to give must be done in accordance of court else later there is possibility you shall be asked for more alimony.

- Law does give the right unemployed wife for maintenance by husband but with certain grounds and in periphery of legal/social parameters.

- Fewl free for any required assistance on your matters.

Regards

 

Vivek Arya (Adv)

Practicing At:-

Supreme Court of India

High Court-Punjab Haryana & Delhi

Retired Lawyer
Advocate, Gurgaon
767 Answers
6 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

No, let only court order than pay, reply to notice that she willing left him and ask her to resume matrimonial house.

NO legal aid provided in such cases. Your residence status dose not confer that your are unable to afford legal representation.

Neither she will get.

 

Yogendra Singh Rajawat
Advocate, Jaipur
22596 Answers
31 Consultations

4.4 on 5.0

1.  How long are they living separately away from each other and what is the reason that she chose to live away from him, was it due to his fault or she herself abandoned the matrimonial home?

He does not have to pay her any maintenance just because she has sent a legal notice, let him give a reply notice denying all her allegations and ask her to return to the matrimonial home and can inform her that she cannot abandon the matrimonial home without any valid reason and seek maintenance.

He need not pay anything now, let him await the summons or notice from a court of law in this regard which he can challenge on merits.

2. He need not refer to any such article now, let him do as suggested in the above lines for now.

 

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84711 Answers
2172 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. He should send reply to the said notice asking  her to join him at his place of working where she has been refusing to join despite his repeated requests. No amount is to  be sent to her for her maintenance without Court order.

 

2. He need not ask her to take free legal aid. He should ask her to join him to ensure that she looses the ground for claiming maintenance amount.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27191 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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