Allahabad High Court: Wife Cannot Be Denied Maintenance Simply Because She Fails to Prove Cruelty or Husband's Second Marriage

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that proceedings for maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (now Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023) are meant to provide financial support to neglected dependents and should not be converted into detailed matrimonial trials. The Court observed that a wife is not required to prove allegations such as cruelty, dowry harassment, or the husband's second marriage beyond doubt to claim maintenance.

Instead, the Court only needs to determine whether she had a valid reason to live separately and whether the husband, despite having sufficient means, neglected or refused to maintain her.

The case arose after a Family Court denied maintenance to the wife while awarding ₹3,000 per month to each of her two minor children. The High Court found that the husband had admitted he stopped paying maintenance after retiring from the Army in November 2020. It held that this itself showed neglect and that the Family Court had wrongly focused on deciding disputed matrimonial allegations instead of the limited purpose of maintenance proceedings.

Referring to the Supreme Court's decision in Rajnesh v. Neha (2021), the Court emphasized that maintenance should enable the wife and children to live with dignity. Accordingly, it awarded the wife ₹5,000 per month and enhanced the maintenance for each child to ₹4,000 per month, taking the total monthly maintenance to ₹13,000. The judgment reinforces that maintenance laws are welfare measures aimed at preventing destitution rather than determining matrimonial fault.