The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with policy decisions of the armed forces to award maintenance or alimony to the estranged wife and children directly from the salary and allowance of the serving personnel, saying “it is a welfare measure meant to ensure the spouse is not left in the
lurch”.
Retired and serving personnel of the Army have approached the top court saying that they are aggrieved and dissatisfied by the arbitrary exercise of power and jurisdiction of the Army, Air Force, and Navy, in usurping judicial authority and proceeding to award maintenance orders against the personnel of the Indian Armed forces.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said, “These are all welfare measures. Army personnel are deployed across the country. It is to ensure that their spouse and children are not left in the lurch”.
It asked the petitioners represented through advocate Neela Gokhale and Anannya Ghosh to approach the Armed Force Tribunal (AFT).
Gokhale said that the mechanism of armed forces in awarding this maintenance is not uniform and is done without following the guidelines passed by this court in awarding maintenance and alimony in its 2021
verdict.