CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana high court has issued a notice to the Ministry of Defence for failing to implement the defence minister's instructions to rationalize the practice of giving maintenance to estranged wives of serving personnel.The Army Act authorizes 'penal deductions' as maintenance in cases of matrimonial dispute . The practice of deducting the amount from the salary has continued despite wives getting the allowance under the Hindu Marriage Act as well. Over the years, the Army had started releasing maintenance to the wives without hearing soldiers.The issue has now reached the high court after a serving Lt Col, posted in an operational area, sought directions to implement August 2016 instructions of the defence minister to rationalize the policy.The officer had a dispute with his wife and army authorities had been deducting maintenance from his salary .The officer told the court that a report by a committee of experts, recently submitted to the ministry , had suggested that a matrimonial dispute was essentially a private civil dispute in which the Army should not get involved. The panel noted that "the services do not have the wherewithal, capacity or ability to examine the veracity of allegations and counter-allegations made by both parties, which is basically a matter of evidence". It observed that such disputes must be dealt with by civil courts.The recommendation of the panel was accepted by the defence minister who had issued orders to implement the instructions within 45 days, the officer argued. Hearing the plea, Justice Rajiv Narain Raina asked the ministry to file its reply by April 24.

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