'Wife can be barred from maintenance only in case of adultery at or around the time of application'

Indore: Madhya Pradesh high court has observed that a wife can be debarred from maintenance on the basis of adultery only if she is “living in adultery at or around the time of filing the application”.

Justice Prakash Chandra Gupta of the Indore bench of high court made the observation while dismissing a revision petition filed by a man against a family court order awarding maintenance of Rs10,000 to the wife.

The court order mentions that the couple married in March 2015 and a Coimbatore court granted ex parte divorce in Dec 2016.

In his order dated March 12, Justice Gupta said: “According to CrPC, the term ‘wife’ includes a woman, who has been divorced by her husband and has not remarried. From the analysis of the provision and case laws, it is apparent that adultery under section 125(4) of CrPC has to be continuous and the liability to prove it is upon the husband in order to debar the wife from getting maintenance.”

“The wife can be debarred from getting maintenance on the grounds of adultery only when she is actually living in adultery at or around the time of application,” he said. The husband had filed the revision petition, alleging that the wife was indulging in adultery by speaking with another man over phone at night. He claimed she was living with a man in Bhopal and produced some photographs, but without certification under Indian Evidence Act 1872. The court concluded that the husband was unable to prove adultery by the wife, and upheld the family court order. TNN

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