NEW DELHI: An exemplary cost of Rs.50,000/- was slapped on a woman on Thursday by the Delhi HC which took exception to he tactics to stall divorce proceedings filed against her by her husband on grounds of desertion. HC was irked by her move to file a frivolous petition to delay the divorce proceedings initiated by her Husband in a family court.
“I find that this petition is frivolous and is liable to be dismissed with an exemplary cost…” said Justice Shiv Narayan Dhingra in a judgments while dismissing a petition filed by Sujata Aggarwal challenging a family court decision to reject her application for adjournment in 2007.
“Every kind of excuse available on the earth had been put forward for seeking adjournments and all tactics had been adopted to delay the proceedings,” HC observed and referred to the lower court order that had stated that Sujata had taken several adjournments since 2001 to delay the proceeding in the divorce case filed by her husband Ravi Shankar Aggarwal in 1998.
Justice Dhingra also said, neither the wife nor her counsel appeared before the family court in August 2001 to receive the alimony paid by her husband, thereby strengthening suspicion that their intention was only to delay proceedings.
“The ground on which the husband sought divorce is desertion. Sujata had an option to lead her evidence to show that she had not deserted and fault lied on the side of the husband. Instead of leading evidence and appearing in the court she had just seen to it that the case does not proceed,” the Court said.
On March 3, 2007, the family court had dismissed an application filed by Sujata for an adjournment in the 1998 case for divorce sought by her husband on the ground of desertion by his wife. After allowing several applications filed by Sujata and granting adjournments several times since 2001 on one or other grounds taken by the wife, the family court had dismissed her plea for further adjournment.
