The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that a woman who has been in a long-term live-in relationship with a man is entitled to receive maintenance after their separation, even if they were not legally married.
This decision was made by a bench led by Justice JS Ahluwalia while dismissing a petition filed by a 38-year-old man, Shailesh Bopche. Bopche had challenged the trial court’s ruling, which ordered him to pay Rs 1,500 per month to the woman, Anita, with whom he had lived for several years.
Bopche argued that Anita could not prove they were married in a temple, and therefore, she was not entitled to maintenance. The trial court also found no evidence of a temple marriage. However, since the couple had a child together, the court ruled that Anita was entitled to financial support.
The trial court’s findings highlighted that although Anita could not prove the marriage took place in a temple, she and Shailesh lived together as husband and wife for a considerable amount of time. Based on this, the court decided that Anita was eligible for maintenance, especially since they had a child.
Upholding this decision, Justice Ahluwalia addressed the primary argument from Shailesh Bopche’s lawyer, which was that Anita was not his legally wedded wife and thus should not be entitled to maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
However, Section 125 of the CrPC states that if a person who has adequate means refuses to provide for his wife, who cannot maintain herself, the court can order the person to pay a monthly allowance. The court ruled that because the couple lived together as husband and wife for a long period, and the trial court had not definitively stated that Anita was not his wife, the maintenance order under Section 125 of the CrPC was valid.
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