LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow Bench has held that a divorced woman can demand maintenance from her former husband even if the divorce was granted to the husband on the ground of desertion, if she has not remarried and is unable to maintain herself.Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra made the observation while allowing a criminal revision petition filed by Suneeta against an order of the Family Court, Sultanpur, which had rejected her maintenance claim.The woman had filed a maintenance case under Section 125 CrPC in 2009, alleging that her husband and in-laws had harassed her over additional dowry and demanded Rs 1 lakh, a motorcycle and a colour television. The husband denied the allegations and claimed that she had deserted him and was unwilling to live with him.During the proceedings, the husband obtained an ex-parte divorce decree on September 25, 2014, on the ground of desertion. The bench also noted material indicating that he had subsequently remarried and that the name of the second woman had been recorded as his wife in his service records.Delivering the verdict, the bench held that a divorced woman continues to be treated as a wife for the limited purpose of claiming maintenance under Section 125 CrPC. The mere fact that the divorce was granted on the ground of desertion does not, by itself, bar her claim.The court observed that a divorced woman is entitled to maintenance until she remarries or becomes capable of maintaining herself through her own earnings, subject to the applicable legal conditions.It held that the Family Court had erred in rejecting the woman’s claim in toto. While the court said her entitlement for the period before the divorce would have to be examined separately, it directed that her claim from September 25, 2014, the date of divorce, be considered afresh.The court also held that her minor son was entitled to maintenance until attaining majority, after accounting for any amount already received through Army authorities.The matter was remanded to the Family Court for fresh consideration. Meanwhile, pending fresh adjudication by the family Court , the bench has directed the husband to pay Rs 4,000 per month as interim maintenance to the woman.
