Prayagraj, April 6 The Allahabad High Court has ruled that a habeas corpus petition cannot be used as a tool to secure the presence of a husband who is allegedly evading court orders in a maintenance case.
A bench of Justices Siddharth and Vinai Kumar Dwivedi made this observation while dismissing a petition filed by Sangita Yadav.
The court stated that it is up to the relevant family court to take appropriate coercive measures to secure the husband's presence in such cases.
The petitioner had approached the high court seeking a direction to trace, arrest, and produce her husband, who was allegedly evading court orders issued in a maintenance execution case.
According to the case details, the family court in Azamgarh had, in January 2021, directed the husband to pay maintenance to his wife and daughter. However, he failed to comply with the order, and his whereabouts remained unknown.
In her plea, the woman sought the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus directing authorities to produce her husband before the high court or the Principal Judge of the family court in Azamgarh. She further requested that his custody be handed over to the family court to enable the recovery of maintenance arrears.
The petitioner relied on a judgment of the Madras High Court in the case of MP Nagalakshmi vs The Deputy Commissioner of Police.
However, the bench noted that the said case involved the illegal detention of the detenue by the petitioner's father-in-law, which justified the issuance of such a direction.
In its order dated March 25, the court held that merely because the husband was evading a court order for payment of maintenance, a writ of habeas corpus could not be issued, and dismissed the petition.