Chhattisgarh HC revokes maintenance granted to woman, says ex-husband need not pay maintenance if divorce granted on grounds of wife’s adultery
In a recent ruling, the Chhattisgarh High Court stated that a wife living with a man after leaving her husband is not entitled to maintenance from the husband. The court said this while dismissing a review petition filed by a woman seeking higher maintenance from her ex-husband. The high court on 9th May, not only denied the petitioner’s demand for higher maintenance but also quashed the one previously granted by the family court.
The decision came on review petitions filed by a computer operator from Raipur and his wife who in their respective pleas challenged a family court order passed in 2024, which stated that the ex-husband will provide Rs 4,000 monthly maintenance to his ex-wife.
However, the man challenged the court order arguing that his now-divorced wife was found doing adultery with his younger brother and the same was proven before the lower court. The man thus argued that a wife living in adultery cannot claim maintenance. He also told the court that his financial condition was not taken into consideration while pronouncing the verdict in ex-wife’s favour.
Meanwhile, the woman in her plea sought to increase the maintenance amount to Rs 20,000 per month.
The duo got married in July 2019, however, the woman claimed that soon after their marriage, the husband began inflicting mental torture and questioned her character. She further alleged that her in-laws used to torment her for not providing meals for the family on time.
Meanwhile, the man accused his wife of lying about his income as the woman claimed that her ex-husband earns Rs 1 lakh a month from various sources, Rs 25,000 from his job, Rs 35,000 in rent, and Rs 40,000 from farming. However, the man told the court that he only earns Rs 17,131 and had no other source of income.
The woman’s counsel argued that there is a difference between “living in adultery” and “once lived in adultery” or “Once established physical relation with someone twice or thrice”. The woman also contended that having an extra-marital affair and living an adulterous life are two different things.
However, the man argued that in 2023, the family court granted divorce to the duo under the Hindu Marriage Act on the grounds of adultery. The man’s counsel argued that under Section 125(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a woman is not entitled to receive interim maintenance from her husband if she was living in adultery, refuses to live with her husband without a sufficient reason, or if they are living separately by mutual consent.
After hearing the arguments of both sides, Justice Arvind Kumar Verma set aside the family court order and said: “The decree for divorce granted by the family court in favour of the husband is sufficient proof that the wife was living in adultery. Once such a decree is in force, it is not possible for this court to take a different view contrary to the decree granted by the civil court.”
“Therefore, this court is of the considered view that the decree granted by the family court clearly goes to prove that the wife is living in adultery and thus, the wife suffers from the disqualification to claim maintenance from the petitioner (husband),” the court added.
Earlier Karnataka HC denied maintenance to wife as she stayed in adultery
Back in October 2023, the Karnataka High Court heard a similar case wherein a wife had challenged the order of the Sessions Judge which had set aside order of granting maintenance to the wife under section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. The bench of Justice Rajendra Badamikar rejected the wife’s petition stating that when a wife is living in adultery, the question of maintenance claims does not arise.
The woman had challenged an earlier the court order wherein she was granted Rs 1500 maintenance and Rs 5,000 compensation. However, the husband challenged this order and the sessions judge eventually set aside the magistrate’s order.
It must be recalled that back in 2018, a five-judge bench of Supreme Court of India declared section 497 of the Indian Penal Code unconstitutional, calling it “manifestly arbitrary”. Section 497 was widely considered a lopsided law, as it is gender biased. Under this law, on one hand, only married men can be prosecuted for adultery, not a married woman. On the other hand, this section applies only if a man has sex with a married woman without the consent of that woman’s husband. This implies that the husband has ownership over his woman who can permit her to have a physical relationship with another man.
Court has clarified that adultery will be a valid ground for divorce.
MP High Court said that living in adultery does not disentitle wife from claiming maintenance
In April 2024, the Madhya Pradesh High Court while hearing a plea seeking reduction of maintenance award on grounds of adultery after divorce, said that “a stray act of adultery on the part of the wife does not amount to adultery” and therefore does not disentitle a wife from claiming maintenance from her husband.
“The expression “living in adultery” connotes a course of adulterous conduct more or less continuous and not occasional,” Justice Prem Narayan Singh had said.
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