Expressing concern over delay in disbursing money awarded as maintenance to women by courts, the Centre has asked the High Courts to set up a mechanism to fast-track the process.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has written to the Chief Justices of all High Courts flagging the issue of “procedural delays” first pointed out by Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi.
“All the stakeholders, the Government of India, the judiciary, legal services authorities and State governments need to take collective responsibility for ensuring that institutional mechanisms, such as the proposed committee comprising district judge and superintendent of police, work seamlessly to provide justice to women,” Mr. Prasad said in his letter.
The Law Minister asked High Courts to advise district courts to monitor timely disbursal of maintenance and speedy execution of warrants awarded by the court.
Panels set up
Acting on the Law Minister’s letter, several High Courts have set up committees to now monitor the process of disbursal of maintenance to women.
“To take care of the concern shown in the letter, the High Court has issued a circular to all the principal district and sessions judges in the State where they have directed to monitor the disbursal of the money awarded to the women as maintenance by the courts. They have been further directed to monitor the speedy execution of warrants of attachment issued by the courts in this regard,” Chief Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court said in a letter responding to the Law Minister’s letter.
“The High Court is also compiling data relating to pending cases pertaining to average time taken in awarding/actual payment of maintenance in such proceedings,” wrote Chief Justice Ahmed.
