The Madhya Pradesh High Court (Gwariel Bench) may consider that allowing a husband to submit a payslip for an effective decision on dependents is a loss of his life and personal freedom. I decided I couldn’t.

 The  Justice Ministry GSAhluwalia further ruled that requiring her husband to prepare a payslip in such a procedure would not be considered a violation of his privacy.  In this case, her husband was ordered by the Supreme Court Justice of the Gwariel Family Court to pay a total of 18,000 rupees/month for the maintenance of his wife and children. However, he was allegedly trying to delay the matter.

 When the matter reached the High Court as the wife moved to the Court, the Court directed the Husband to file a reply submitting the appropriate documents in support of his submission regarding his salary structure.  In response to the Court`s order, the Husband filed reply but not filed the salary slip on the ground that compelling the husband to file the salary slip in the maintenance proceedings would be contrary to the protection given under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

 He also took the defence of Article 20 of the Indian Constitution and submitted that no one can be compelled to give evidence against himself.  At the outset, the Court said that since the instant revision arises out of the proceedings registered under Section 125 of Cr.P. there was no question of conviction of the respondent and therefore, Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India, which provides that no person/accused of any offence shall be compelled of the witness against him, shall not be applicable in the instant case.

 With reference to some groundbreaking judgments of the Supreme Court, the court further notes that if the financial condition of a party is one of the considerations related to decision, it will not be considered breach of privacy. Judge ordered the wife to ask her husband to submit the payslip. As a result, the defendant refused to submit payslip, and the court ruled that it could lead to unfavourable conclusions against the defendant. Therefore, the court addressed the issue of a final hearing during the application phase for the week beginning June 20, 2022.