Prayagraj, Apr 6 The Allahabad High Court has held that a habeas corpus petition cannot be used as a tool to secure the presence of a husband who is allegedly evading warrants in a maintenance case.
A bench of Justices Siddharth and Vinai Kumar Dwivedi made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by Sangita Yadav.
The court said it is for the concerned family court to initiate appropriate coercive measures to secure the presence of the husband in such cases.
The petitioner had approached the high court seeking a direction to trace, arrest and produce her husband, who was allegedly evading warrants 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 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 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 illegal custody of the detenue by the petitioner's father-in-law, which justified issuance of such a direction.
In its order dated March 25, the court held that merely because the husband was evading a warrant issued by the family court for payment of maintenance, a writ of habeas corpus could not be issued, and dismissed the petition.
