A wife living in adultery is not entitled to maintenance, the Chhattisgarh High Court ruled earlier this month as it dismissed a revision petition of a woman seeking higher maintenance from her ex-husband. In its ruling, the court not only refused to allow higher maintenance but also quashed the one granted by the lower court.
In her petition before the court, the petitioner was seeking a maintenance of Rs 20,000 from her husband – higher than the Rs 4,000 that the family court had granted. The petitioner claimed that the couple had married in 2019 according to Hindu rituals, and some years into her marriage, her in-laws had tortured her by not giving her meals while her husband suspected her of having an affair.
The woman had left her husband in March 2021 and filed for divorce the same month, eventually divorcing him in September 2023. She eventually filed for, and was granted, maintenance in November last year.
In her petition, the woman claimed that her husband made a total of 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 – and sought Rs 20,000 in maintenance.
The husband opposed this saying that the petitioner had an affair with her brother and that when he objected, she quarrelled with him and threatened to file a case, adding that she left their matrimonial home “without sufficient reason”. He also disputed his wife’s claims on his income, arguing that he earned Rs 17,131 and had no other source of income.
In his arguments, the husband argued that the adultery charges had been proved in the family court, which passed the maintenance order without considering 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.
The woman’s counsel, however, argued that “living in adultery” constituted a present and continuing act.
“The fact is admitted by both the parties that they both lived under the same roof till March 2021 for the last time. Husband also admits/pleaded that she is living with her brother and sister-in-law. This itself implies by the admission and pleadings of the parties that she is living with her brother and sister-in-law and not living the adulterous life,” the woman’s counsel had argued.
The high court, however, ruled in favour of the husband. “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 high court bench stated.
