Supreme Court rules wife can claim maintenance from husband, even without cohabitation

The bench, consisting of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, addressed the question: “Will a husband, who secures a decree for restitution of conjugal rights, stand absolved of paying maintenance to his wife by virtue of Section 125(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, if his wife refuses to abide by the said decree and return to the matrimonial home?”

Justice Sanjay Kumar, who authored the judgment, said that a wife’s refusal to comply with a decree of conjugal rights under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, for just cause, would not disqualify her from claiming maintenance from her husband under Section 125 of the Cr.P.C.

The Court ruled that the respondent-husband had completely neglected his wife, the Appellant, after she suffered a miscarriage and had been mistreated in their matrimonial home. As a result, the court concluded that the appellant had sufficient cause to not return to the matrimonial home, the Live Law report said.