These notes are written for litigants and for younger members of the Bar. They explain procedure as it operates in the Delhi courts — the sequence of steps, the timelines that matter, and the points at which a matter is commonly lost. They are general information, not advice on any particular case.
Where to File a Maintenance Case – Advocate Manish Jha
Section 145 BNSS lets a maintenance petition be filed where the respondent is or resides, where the wife resides, or where the couple last lived together — the venue options and the strategy of choosing among them.
Read → 31 August 2026 · Matrimonial & FamilyJudicial Separation: S.10 HMA – Advocate Manish Jha
Judicial separation suspends cohabitation without dissolving the marriage — grounds, effects, rescission under Section 10(2), and the route from separation to divorce under Section 13(1A).
Read → 31 August 2026 · Matrimonial & FamilyDivorce When a Spouse Is Abroad – Advocate Manish Jha
Filing or defending a Delhi divorce with one spouse overseas: jurisdiction under Section 19 HMA, service across borders, appearance by video-conference and power of attorney, and the recognition of foreign decrees.
Read → 30 August 2026 · Matrimonial & FamilySixty to Ninety Days to Frame Charges: The Supreme Court's Ten Directions for Dowry and Cruelty Cases
By order dated 20 August 2026 in State of U.P. v. Ajmal Beg, the Supreme Court issued ten nationwide directions on Sections 304B and 498A IPC and Dowry Prohibition Act cases — 60-90 day charge framing, witness calendars, dashboards and thrice-yearly compliance reports.
Read → 30 August 2026 · Matrimonial & FamilyNot a Charter of Indefeasible Occupation: Section 17, the Shared Household and Due Process
In KN v. AN (2026:DHC:6802), the Delhi High Court upheld a father-in-law's possession decree, holding the DV Act bars only eviction without due process — while securing the wife's residence through the husband: alternative accommodation or ₹35,000 monthly rent.
Read → 30 August 2026 · Matrimonial & FamilyCapacity to Earn Is Not Actual Earnings: The Delhi High Court on Maintenance Under the DV Act
In D v. S (2026:DHC:6090), the Delhi High Court calibrated DV Act maintenance to a pilot husband's income period by period — and held that a qualified wife directed to seek work does not lose maintenance automatically when the year expires.
Read → 30 August 2026 · Matrimonial & FamilyThe One-Year Rule in Maintenance Arrears: Section 144(3) BNSS Explained
The warrant procedure for maintenance arrears, the one-year limitation on invoking it, imprisonment for wilful default and recovery strategy — the enforcement side of Section 144 BNSS (125 CrPC) explained.
Read → 30 August 2026 · Matrimonial & FamilyThe Decree-Based Divorce Grounds: Section 13(1A) of the Hindu Marriage Act
Divorce without re-proving fault: a year of non-resumption after judicial separation, or non-compliance with a restitution decree, opens Section 13(1A) — subject always to the own-wrong check of Section 23(1)(a).
Read → 30 August 2026 · Matrimonial & FamilyHer Property, Not the Family's: Stridhan and How It Is Recovered
Stridhan is the wife's absolute property. What it includes, why it is not dowry, and the three recovery routes Delhi practice uses — Section 19(8) DV Act, criminal breach of trust under Section 316 BNS, and the civil suit.
Read → 28 August 2026 · Matrimonial & FamilyEx Parte Proceedings Under the DV Act
How Delhi magistrates proceed when a respondent ignores notice in a Domestic Violence Act case, the orders that can follow under Sections 18 to 23, and the correctives — recall, appeal and alteration.
Read → 28 August 2026 · Matrimonial & FamilyCounselling, Welfare Experts and Closed Doors
Sections 14 to 16 of the DV Act equip courts with counselling directions, welfare-expert assistance and in-camera hearings — the statute's quieter provisions, used deliberately.
Read → 28 August 2026 · Matrimonial & FamilyMaintenance Without Divorce: Section 18 HAMA
A Hindu wife's substantive right to be maintained — including while living separately on the grounds in Section 18(2) — independent of any matrimonial or criminal proceeding.
Read →What Is Covered Here
The chamber writes on the areas in which it appears: criminal procedure under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, bail practice, matrimonial and family proceedings before the Delhi Family Courts, cheque dishonour and recovery, and proceedings before the NCLT and the Motor Accident Claims Tribunals. Notes on reported judgments of the Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Delhi are published with a link to the official text of the decision, so that a reader can verify the position rather than rely on a summary.
No article on this page identifies a client or discusses a pending matter conducted by the chamber. Where a statutory provision is cited, the section number is given so that a reader can verify it against the bare Act.