Allahabad High Court ruled that a woman’s past marriage is irrelevant while deciding interim maintenance under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act. The court directed her husband to pay Rs 15,000/month despite allegations of concealment.
In a recent case, the Allahabad High Court made an important ruling while deciding a woman’s plea for interim maintenance under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
The court said that the truth about a woman’s previous marriage is not important while deciding if she should get financial help during her ongoing matrimonial case.
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This case came to court after a woman filed an appeal against a family court’s decision that had denied her interim maintenance. The family court had rejected her plea, stating that she had hidden her previous marriage.
According to the family court, the woman’s earlier marriage had legally ended only in April 2024, but she had already married her current husband in February 2021.
This, the family court said, was a violation of Section 5(i) of the Hindu Marriage Act, which bans bigamy (marrying again while the first spouse is still legally married).
However, the division bench of Justice Arindam Sinha and Justice Avnish Saxena of the Allahabad High Court did not agree with the family court.
The judges said that it was not necessary to examine the facts about her previous husband or her past marriage while deciding on interim maintenance.
They clearly said,
“For purpose of adjudicating the appeal, it is not necessary for us to find on other facts regarding allegation of appellant that there was separation from her first husband… This is because section 24 provides for a spouse to have maintenance pendente lite and expenses of proceedings.”
Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act talks about giving maintenance and legal expenses to a spouse who does not have enough income to support themselves during a matrimonial case.
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The High Court said that this is the only point that should be considered while deciding such applications.
The husband, who is a police officer, argued that their marriage was void because the woman had hidden her previous marriage.
He also referred to the Supreme Court’s 2025 judgment in Sukhdev Singh vs. Sukhbir Kaur, and said that the conduct and honesty of the applicant should be taken into account when deciding on maintenance.
His lawyer also alleged that the woman had falsely claimed that she was working in the Income Tax Department.
But the High Court did not find any proof to show that the woman was earning or had her own source of income. In fact, the court said it appeared she was financially dependent and needed support.
She had moved to Kanpur to live with her husband after their marriage and was now living again at her earlier home in Jhansi.
The judges stated that
“allegations of deceit, even if ultimately proven, do not override the financial necessity that Section 24 seeks to address.”
After going through all the facts, the High Court decided to cancel the family court’s order and ruled in favour of the woman.
It ordered the husband to pay her Rs. 15,000 per month as interim maintenance.
The court also said that the payments should be made starting from April 15, 2025, which is the date the woman had filed her application.
All pending dues (arrears) must be paid by June 14, 2025. After that, monthly payments should be made regularly by the 7th of every month.
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The court also requested the family court to speed up the main matrimonial case without any more delays.
At the same time, it advised the wife not to ask for unnecessary adjournments to avoid further delay in the trial.
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