Divorce Appeal in Punjab Haryana High Court Chandigarh

Last Updated on May 5, 2020 by Legalseva.net

Appeals arising out of Family Courts of Districts Of all States in Punjab Haryana lies to High Court Chandigarh as FAQ akin First Appeal Against Order (Case Type). The decisions can be challenged as illegal, arbitrary and violation of settled principles of law contrary to the facts brought on record and thus where it is fit to exercise discretion, Punjab Haryana High Court can intervene in Divorce Appeals but that’s not a general rule for every case will be entertained. Some may go on the very first date though the litigation is always awarded to other side for contesting the case before High Court. It can be maintenance amount challenged, divorce decree awarded rightly –wrongly, acquittal or conviction in 498 A cases, Criminal Revision in Criminal cases of Domestic Violence or Dowry acts etc.

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Appeal in all matters, civil and criminal cases from district court lies in the High Court. As per hierarchy system the trial courts are subject to subordination of High Court in all matters comprising of civil and criminal and they in turn are subject to sub-ordination of the Supreme Court of India which is the last appellate court.

The High court exercises different types of jurisdiction in civil and criminal matter, they are:

Pecuniary Jurisdiction
Territorial Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction with respect to the subject matter of the case

Any party to a case in both the matters, civil or criminal can appeal before the High Court if it is not satisfied with the decision of the court. Appeal is a way by which a prior decision of a subordinate court can be challenged before the Higher court. This can be filed by any person to the party in the dispute and if the aggrieved party is deceased, in case his legal heir or his legal representative can file for appeal in the High Court. The person who is aggrieved or who on behalf of the aggrieved party files for an appeal is known as appellant and the opposite party termed as respondent. The court which hears the appeal is known as appellate court. The appeal can only be filed in the specific court for the purpose of hearing in such matter and has power to do so in a specific manner. The appeal can be filed in court of jurisdiction in the manner prescribed by the depending on civil and criminal cases.

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Appeal in civil matters:

Appeal under the civil matters lie where the cases are governed by the Code of Civil Procedure. However, the High Court exercises its own legislator power in framing rules to conduct the civil appeals and its procedures. Any judgment or decree passed by subordinate courts, tribunals can be challenged before the High Court. The judgment passes by the appellate court is the first appeal while the judgment or decree of the High Court if challenged then it is second appeal. Second appeal can also be filed in the cases involvingsubstantial question of law in an ex-parte decision of the appellate court.

No appeal can lie in the cases where the amount is dispute is less than Rs. 3000/- . no appeal shall lie before the court without the consent of the party. In case, where the decree is passed by the single judge of the High Court no appeal lies.

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Appeal in Divorce Decree:

The divorce decree can be final judgment in a divorce case. The divorce decree will have specific conclusions for issues like property distribution, child custody and support, and alimony payments. The divorce decree also dissolves the marriage and makes the divorce final and legally binding. So long as the statute of the state does not prohibit, any party can appeal for the decree of divorce. Both the parties can file for appeal to the decree at the same time, depending on the state legislature.

Grounds for appealing a Divorce Decree:

The most common claim for appealing for a divorce decree is when the court made a mistake regarding the law in the final judgment. The party to the appeal must show in specific the mistake or the error made by the court in the decision making. In making an appeal in the divorce decree, the party cannot simply challenge the facts that were established by the court. The appellate court simply accepts the facts as established by the lower court unless the contrary is shown by the party that the mistake with respect to the fact has been made by the court in making the decision.

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For example: if the court concluded the husband’s income to be Rs.40,000 a year, this fact could not be contested on appeal unless it is proven by the party that some mistake has been made in calculating the income of the husband. Thus, in case of wrong legal standard established, it can be challenged on appeal in the High Court.

Other grounds that might support an appeal of the divorce decree might include:

Fraud committed by the other party to the proceeding;
Concealment of the fact relevant to the case;
Discovery of new fact to the case previously not examined during original proceedings.

These are the instances where an appeal of divorce decree could lie but the appeal is more likely to succeed when the petition is concerning the error or mistake in the law committed by the court.

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Different kinds of Appeals for Divorce Decree:

Some of the ways that you can challenge the divorce decree:

Appeal: this is general way of challenging the divorce decree. It is also one of the most time consuming process, besides that the party is only allowed to appeal within thirty days of the final judgment has been issued, and it is obligatory that the appeal must be based on the mistake or error occurred while passing the final judgment by the court. The appellate process has strict procedures and deadlines regarding filing for an appeal, in case the party fails to comply to the procedures or miss the deadlines the party may lose the right to appeal.
Motion for hearing: it is filed right just after the judgment is issued and the request must be granted by the judge. The party does not have absolute right to have the case reheard.
Motion for relief from judgment: it is also granted in limited circumstances, where the opposite party have voluntarily concealed assets or committed fraud. Generally this motion is granted where some injury of serious nature may happen relating to the concealed fact which might affect the fairness of the decree.

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It is necessary the party to the appeal to be aware of the deadlines by the court regarding the appeal in case of unawareness of the rights and deadlines the party might lose their chance to file for the appeal.

Now let us have the Case Law:

Case no: FAO Nos. 1786 and 1790 of 2018; Anita Aggarwal vs. Ramesh Aggarwal;

In this case both the appeals were filed by the wife FAO No 1786 to set aside the judgment of the learned district court dismissing the petition filed by her against the respondent- husband under Sec.9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and FAO No. 1790, as filed by her to challenge the judgment and decree passed by the above said court on the same day, whereby the petition by the husband against her under Section 13 of the Act, seeking dissolution of marriage by the way of decree of divorce, was allowed. The husband and wife were married since 1995 and had two children.

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The wife charged husband of the cruelty and desertion. However the husband contended that it was the wife who misbehaved with him and even assaulted him physically, she also beaten his father and the children occasionally. Once she also threw slipper over his father. On continuing misbehavior a complaint was filed in the police station after which she agreed to change her behavior but after some time she again started misbehaving with him and also beaten him an keep insisting on moving to Chandigarh and also said that she would only live in Chandigarh. The learned counsel for the respondent exhibits medico legal reports of Brij Rani and RoopLal the parent-in-laws of the wife and affidavit submitted to the court exhibiting that the parents-in-laws of the wife visited the portion of the property, while talking to their grandchildren the wife started using filthy language and also assaulted then for which medico legally examined at Civil Hospital, Dina Nagar.

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No suggestion has been given that the medico legal reports for RoopLal and his wife were false and procured ones or that the injuries on his person and on the person of his wife were self-inflicted. It is pertinent to mention here that wife alleged that the husband and his family members gave her merciless beating but could not produce any medico-legal evidence regarding the same. Rather, in the compromise deed, it has been specifically mentioned that, the wife in presence of her family members and other witnesses admitted to her mistakes and also promised that she would not commit any such mistake in future. Although in her affidavit she mentioned that she was forced to sign the blank paper by the respondent however in normal course of time no person can be expected to sign the blank papers even if for the sake of arguments, it is presumed that she has done so under the pressure of the husband and his family members but no person is supposed to keep silence after such act and the wife did never came forward to complain about the force. However she continued misbehaving with the husband, the children and his family member. It was held in the case of P.S. Khera vs. Mrs. Kamal-Nainjit Kaur, 1981 HLR 569 that the fresh act of cruelty on the part of wife would revive her earlier conduct even if condoned previously”

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In the view of the discussions and evidences produced before the court the appellate court observed that the findings recorded by the learned trial court to the effect that the husband had produced ample evidence on the record to the effect that the wife had caused grave mental and physical cruelty to him and it was not possible for him to live with her and therefore, a decree of divorce deserved to be granted in favor of the husband and that he could not be compelled for the restitution of conjugal rights to co-habit with the wife, do not suffer from any infirmity, illegality or perversity and hence, the same do not warrant any interference by this court. As a sequel to the forgoing discussion, it follows that both the appeals i.e. FAO No. 1786 of 2018 and FAO No. 1790 of 2018, being sans any merit, are hereby dismissed. Well, you can read the entire judgment here.

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For case specific advice, please contact best/top/expert Divorce Lawyers Advocate of Punjab Haryana High Court Chandigarh in Panchkula Zirakpur Derabassi Mullanpur Kharar Baltana etc.

This post is written by Anurag Gupta.