The Supreme Court (SC), in Aditi Alias Mithi v Jitesh Sharma [2023 INSC 981 ] directs the courts in India to follow the detailed guidelines issued by it in Rajnesh v Neha & Another [(2021) 2 SCC 32], including filing of the uniform format of Affidavit for Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities, in maintenance proceedings.
The SC says that a uniform format of Affidavit for Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities has been prescribed in maintenance proceedings, as the wife tends to exaggerate her needs and the husband tends to conceal his actual income.
In Aditi Alias Mithi v Jitesh Sharma [2023 INSC 981], the SC directed the Secretary General of the SC to re-circulate the judgment in Rajnesh v Neha & Another [(2021) 2 SCC 32], not only to all the Judicial Officers through the High Courts concerned, but also to the National Judicial Academy & the State Judicial Academies, to be taken note of during the training programmes as well.
The Kerala High Court, in para 7 (viii) of the judgement in Ratheesh S v Sreelekshmi S [ 2025:KER:22087], specifically directed all the courts in the state dealing with maintenance cases to follow the guidelines of the SC in Rajnesh v Neha before passing a final order for maintenance, and the party should positively file an Affidavit for Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities, and that the order should be passed based on the pleading, evidence as well as the disclosure in the Affidavit.
References
- Rajnesh v Neha & Another [(2021) 2 SCC 32]
- Aditi Alias Mithi v Jitesh Sharma [2023 INSC 981]
- Ratheesh S v Sreelekshmi S [ 2025: KER:22087]
