The Bombay High Court has said that a person cannot use the Presidency-Towns Insolvency Act, 1909 to escape or delay paying court-ordered maintenance. The Court made it clear that insolvency proceedings cannot block or weaken a Family Court’s maintenance order in any way.
Facts:
Justice Jitendra Jain delivered the ruling while hearing a husband’s plea to be declared insolvent. The husband said he could not pay ₹22,30,000 in arrears that had built up after a Family Court ordered him to pay his wife ₹25,000 every month. He claimed his monthly income was only ₹12,000–₹15,000 and argued that he met the requirements under Sections 9(1)(f) and 14(1)(a) of the 1909 Act, which he said should allow him…