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The Punjab and Haryana High Court last week dismissed the revision petition filed by a woman against the order of the Family Court directing for an inquiry against her on allegations of concealment of information pertaining to her employment in a matrimonial dispute case.

The bench of justice Jasjit Singh Bedi said, "The practice of making false assertions in court ought to be discouraged because the dignity and sanctity of the court is undermined by such conduct of a party to a lis."

Justice Bedi noted that the woman was an Assistant Professor and a highly educated person and at no stage of proceedings up till her cross-examination did she disclose that she was employed including when her application for interim maintenance was decided and Rs.5000 was awarded to her.

He also refused to accept the explanation offered by the woman that she had given the documents to her counsel in the month of May 2017 to file the petition under Section 125 of Criminal Procedure Code which was filed on July 26, 2017, because of which her joining on July 3, 2017, was not disclosed. "In my opinion, this explanation is completely falacious", Justice Bedi held. 

He added that assuming that the said fact was missing in her petition under Section 125 Cr.PC, Court could have been informed during the course of proceedings that there had been change of circumstances regarding her obtaining employment.

Therefore, Justice Bedi held, "Thus it can safely be said that the possibility of her conviction was high and her actions were certainly deliberate and conscious to obtain maintenance."

The woman, who got married in March 2010, had a female child out of wedlock. In June 2017, she moved a complaint against her husband and his family members under Sections 498, 406, 506 and 312 of the Indian Penal Code. Apart from that, she also filed an application under Section 125 Cr.PC and an application for interim maintenance and in both she stated that she has no source of income or property and was unable to support herself.

However, her husband, with record, submitted that she was employed as an assistant professor with a private university and had joined the job before moving the application for interim maintenance. Thus, she had deliberately and intentionally given wrong information to the court in order to grab maintenance and harass him, he had claimed.

Taking note of this fact, the Additional Principal Judge of the Ambala Family Court had ordered a probe against the woman for submitting false evidence in court.

Case Title: Smt. Ritu @ Ridhima & Anr. v. Sandeep Singh Sangwan