The Madhya Pradesh High Court in its order dated March 12, 2024 has observed that a wife can only be debarred from maintenance if “she has been living in adultery at or around the time of filing a maintenance application under Section 125 CrPC”.
Justice Prakash Chandra Gupta of the Madhya Pradesh High Court Indore bench upheld a family court order that had awarded Rs 10,000 per month maintenance to the wife, despite evidences of infidelity brought on record by the husband.
Case:
Parties got married in March 2015 as per Hindu rites and rituals. The husband soon initiated a divorce petition on grounds of cruelty by wife, and in December 2016, the Additional Family Court, Coimbatore granted him ex-parte divorce under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
During the pendency of the husband’s divorce petition at the Family Court, the wife also initiated an application for maintenance under Section 125 of Cr.P.C.
READ JUDGMENT | Proven Adultery By Wife Cannot Be Sole Grounds To Deny Her Children’s Custody: Delhi High Court
Allegations by Wife
According to the wife’s maintenance application, the petitioner-husband started to harass her and demanded Rs 10 lakh as dowry. Upon non-fulfilment of demands, he had started to physically assault her. She further alleged that the husband did not allow her to speak with her parents and often taunted her calling her “ugly”. She also accused her husband of receiving messages and calls from other women and when she objected to the same, he would harass her more.
The wife informed court that she kept bearing all such cruelty only because she wanted to save her marriage. She also alleged of being thrown out of her matrimonial home, one year prior to filing her maintenance application.
Since then, the wife has been living in a rented room and the petitioner/husband has not arranged anything for her. The respondent/wife also informed the Court that she was dependent on her father and had no source of income to maintain herself.
The woman then placed on record that her husband was as a Botanical Scientist at Botanical Survey Of India from where he was receiving a monthly salary of Rs 50,000. Therefore, she prayed to be given a monthly maintenance of Rs 25,000 per month from the petitioner/husband.
Defense / Submissions by Husband
The husband on the other hand denied all the allegations made by his wife in her maintenance application. He pleaded that he had neither demanded any dowry from the wife nor had harassed or subjected her to cruelty for the same.
On the other hand, the husband accused his wife of voluntarily leaving him without any reasonable cause. It was also pleaded that the wife was of a stubborn and insane nature who used to physically assault him and abuse him and his family members.
The husband then levelled allegations of infidelity by wife accusing her of obscene talks with another man during odd hours at night on her mobile phone. He then informed court that his wife was having an extramarital affair and wanted to reside with her lover. The husband was able to bring on record that his wife, after leaving his company, was currently residing with her boyfriend in Bhopal. He even produced some photographs, but without certification under Indian Evidence Act 1872.
With regards to his income, the husband submitted that he is indeed posted as Assistant Scientist at Biological Survey Of India from where he receives a good sum of money and he possesses good character. He also submitted that his wife is a qualified Ph.D. and is currently having a job. Therefore, she was not entitled to any maintenance from him.
Family Court Must Aid Wife To Procure Evidence For Proving Husband’s Adultery: Delhi High Court
Family Court
In November 2022, the Trial Court noted that the husband was a Government Servant earning Rs 69,000 per month. The Court also noted that the wife was unable to maintain herself. Citing that the wife had reasons for living apart and that the husband had sufficient means to maintain his estranged wife, the trial Court awarded Rs 10,000 per month as maintenance.
The husband challenged this order in the High Court.
Sub-section (4) of Section 125 CrPC
“125. (4) No wife shall be entitled to receive an allowance from her husband under this section if she is living in adultery, or if, without any sufficient reason, she refuses to live with her husband, or if they are living separately by mutual consent.”
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Madhya Pradesh High Court
Justice Prakash Chandra Gupta of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has now dismissed the husband’s revision petition upholding the Family Court order.
Justice Gupta said,
According to Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the term ‘wife’ includes a woman, who has been divorced by her husband and has not remarried. From analysis of the provision and case laws, it is apparent that adultery under Section 125(4) of CrPC has to be continuous and the liability to prove it is upon the husband in order to debar the wife from getting maintenance.
Adding further, Justice Gupta said:
The wife can be debarred from getting maintenance on grounds of adultery only when she is actually living in adultery at or around the time of (maintenance) application.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court concluded that the husband was unable to prove adultery by the wife, and thus, she was entitled to maintenance.
READ ORDER | Solitary Act Of Adultery Or Isolated Lapse Of Wife Will Not Disentitle Her To Claim Maintenance: Punjab & Haryana High Court
Voice For Men India Take:
- The Matrimonial Legal System in India is a curse for men
- The lopsided laws made decades ago, favour only and only the women, and even if the law clearly states grounds for rejecting maintenance, there are enough loopholes in the law to challenge these grounds for rejection
- There are multiple stages of fighting divorce battles for the men
- In early stages, most men are geared up to get justice, because every rational man believes in the system if they are being penalised without doing any wrong
- The second stage of a matrimonial battle comes after 3-5 years of dragging themselves to court, where the men realise it is better to pay up one time alimony to the estranged wife, and get rid of the torture at courts by paying hefty fees to the lawyers for years
- The third stage comes after 8-10 years, where the men lose all hope and start living their lives, even if the cases fail to end
- After the third stage, a mutual settlement is almost impossible, since the demand from wife is absolutely unrealistic and unreasonable, while the man who has lost his prime years of life is now on a revenge mode by not shelling out a penny in alimony
- To conclude, sadly, the system is set up for feeding lawyers from both sides, while the aggrieved party – the husband – who goes to court for relief, ends up becoming a scapegoat for all
REALTED ARTICLE:
READ ORDER | Occasional Adultery By Wife Cannot Be A Ground To Deny Maintenance To Wife: Delhi High Court
DO WATCH:
Madhya Pradesh High Court Upholds Maintenance To Divorced Wife Living In Adultery | Voice For Men
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#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh High Court Upholds Maintenance To Divorced Wife Living In Adultery #VoiceForMen @ArnazHathiramhttps://t.co/G5hKkInMKH
— Voice For Men India (@voiceformenind) March 29, 2024
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