Delhi High Court: Wife Can’t Be Denied Maintenance for Occasional Adultery
The Delhi High Court has ruled that a wife cannot be denied maintenance due to occasional acts of adultery. Justice Chandra Dhari Singh clarified that only repeated acts of adultery and cohabitation in adultery justify denying maintenance under Section 125(4) of the CrPC.
In this case, the husband challenged a trial court order that directed him to pay Rs 15,000 per month in maintenance from August 2020. He argued that his wife should not receive maintenance due to cruelty, adultery, and desertion. However, the High Court dismissed his arguments.
Justice Singh stated that cruelty and harassment are not valid reasons to deny maintenance. Even in cases where divorce is granted on the grounds of cruelty, courts have awarded alimony to the wife. The court emphasized that maintenance laws, including Section 125 of the CrPC, are designed to ensure that wives, children, and parents are not left destitute.
The court noted that the husband’s claim of adultery, based on statements from their son, did not prove that the wife was living in adultery. The law requires definitive evidence of continuous cohabitation in adultery to deny maintenance.
The court concluded that the husband failed to establish valid grounds for denying maintenance and upheld the trial court’s order.
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