Divorced Woman Can Claim Maintenance Under Domestic Violence Act: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has ruled that a divorced woman can seek maintenance from her former husband under the Domestic Violence (DV) Act. The judgment was delivered by Justice Sandipkumar More while hearing a plea filed by a 50-year-old agriculturist from Yavatmal district.
The agriculturist had challenged an order of the additional sessions judge at Kelapur, which increased the maintenance amount awarded to his ex-wife from ₹1,500 to ₹3,000. The order was based on a complaint filed by the woman under the DV Act.
The man argued that since their marriage, which took place in May 2005, ended with a divorce in January 2014, there was no longer a domestic relationship. He said his wife left the matrimonial home in 2009 and had been living with her parents since then. Therefore, he claimed she was not entitled to any maintenance under the DV Act.
However, the woman’s counsel relied on the 2022 Supreme Court judgment in Prabha Tyagi vs Kamlesh Devi, which clarified that a domestic relationship does not need to exist at the time of filing an application under the DV Act. If a woman has lived in a domestic relationship and has faced domestic violence at any point, she qualifies as an “aggrieved person” under the Act.
Accepting this argument, Justice More ruled that a divorced wife falls within the definition of an “aggrieved person” under the DV Act and is entitled to claim relief, including maintenance. The High Court dismissed the agriculturist’s plea and upheld the lower court’s order.
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