The Chhattisgarh High Court ruled that a divorced woman cannot claim maintenance if she was found living in adultery. The Court emphasized that a divorce granted on adultery disqualifies a woman from receiving support under Section 125 CrPC.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
BILASPUR: In an important judgment, the Chhattisgarh High Court said that a woman who has been divorced because of adultery cannot take maintenance from her husband under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
ALSO READ: Sunny Leone’s Chica Loca Bar Banned in Lucknow Housing Complex by Consumer Court
The case was decided by Justice Arvind Kumar Verma. He made it clear that if a family court gives a divorce to the husband because the wife was in an adulterous relationship, then in maintenance matters, the court cannot give a different opinion.
“Sub-Section 4 of Section 125 of the CrPC provides that if a woman lives in adultery, whose marriage is still subsisting, she is not entitled for maintenance from her husband. Suppose, a decree for divorce is granted on the ground of her living in adultery, can it be said that the said disqualification of which she was suffering from all along, during the subsistence of the marriage, will cease to exist, because of the decree for divorce?. The prudent answer to this question shall be an emphatic – “No”. The decree obtained by the husband for divorce on proving the adulterous life of the wife cannot give a license to her to continue to live in illicit relationship and to get her right to claim maintenance revived. Therefore, I conclude that a divorced wife, who lives in adultery, viz., living in illicit relationship with man other than her former husband is disqualified from claiming maintenance, under Section 125 of the Code,”
-the Court said.
This matter came up when both the husband and wife filed cross-petitions. The husband was not happy with the family court’s order that he must pay Rs 4,000 every month to his ex-wife as maintenance.
The wife also filed a petition saying the Rs 4,000 amount was too less and should be increased to Rs 20,000.
The husband said he works on a contract and earns only Rs 17,131 per month, and it’s hard for him to pay even Rs 4,000. He also said that he was given a divorce because the court had found that his wife was in an adulterous relationship with his younger brother.
The wife, on the other hand, said she does not earn anything and Rs 4,000 is not enough. She claimed that the meaning of “living in adultery” under Section 125(4) of CrPC means being in a current, ongoing adulterous relationship—and that there is no such proof against her.
After listening to both sides, the Court looked at the earlier divorce case filed under the Hindu Marriage Act. That case ended on 8 September 2023, and the husband had been given a divorce based on the proof that the wife was involved in adultery.
“If once the decree for divorce is granted on the ground of adultery, such finding is relevant for deciding the issue of adultery in the present case. The decree is a decree passed on proof of the claim made by means of sufficient evidence which has not been challenged by the aggrieved party,”
-the Court said.
So, the Court said that this divorce decree proved that the woman had lived in adultery, and because of that, she cannot ask for maintenance anymore under Section 125 of CrPC.
In the end, the High Court cancelled the earlier family court’s order where it had asked the husband to pay Rs 4,000 every month. The husband’s petition was accepted and the wife’s plea to increase the amount to Rs 20,000 was rejected.
Advocate P Acharya represented the husband.
Advocate Shubhank Tiwari appeared for the wife.
CASE TITLE:
X v Y
Would You Like Assistance In Drafting A Legal Notice Or Complaint?
CLICK HERE
Click Here to Read Our Reports on Adultery
FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES
