desk
Share
News Topical, Digital Desk : The Allahabad High Court has clarified in response to a petition that only a legal wife can claim maintenance from her husband under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). If a woman's first marriage is valid and she has lived with another man for a long time without obtaining a formal divorce, she will not be entitled to seek maintenance from that man. The court held that merely being in a marital relationship for a long period of time does not confer legal status on a woman as a wife. A claim for maintenance under Section 125 is not admissible unless the first marriage is duly dissolved and the second marriage is entered into in accordance with law.
Background of the entire case
According to the case, the petitioner was previously married on April 29, 1992, and has two children. Following a dispute, the couple began living separately. During this time, she met a lawyer practicing in Unnao and allegedly married him in 2009. After nearly 10 years of living together, the dispute escalated, and in 2018, the petitioner filed a demand for maintenance, which was rejected by the courts.
The court upheld the family court's order.
A single bench of Justice Madan Pal Singh dismissed the criminal revision petition challenging the order of the Additional Family Court-2, Kanpur, dated February 12, 2024. The family court had earlier dismissed the maintenance application, stating that the petitioner was not the legal wife.
Divorce by notarial agreement is not valid – High Court
The High Court also rejected the petitioner's argument that the first marriage had been dissolved through mutual consent and a notarized document. The Court clearly stated that such measures cannot legally terminate the marriage and that ignorance about the existence of the first marriage is unacceptable.
Citing the Supreme Court's decision
In its decision, the court cited the Supreme Court's decision in Savitaben Somabhai Bhatia v. State of Gujarat (2005), which held that a woman married in an illegal marriage cannot be included within the definition of a wife and is therefore not entitled to maintenance.
--Advertisement--
