Maintenance – Waived under the consent terms of Divorce – Bar of Section 125(4) of Cr PC if wife is living separately by mutual consent
On 20.8.2007 the divorce Petition by mutual consent was decreed under Section 13B(1) of the Hindu Marriage Act. One of the consent terms was that the wife shall not claim maintenance from her husband and the custody of minor son shall remain with the mother.
In 2013, the son and the wife had filed separate applications for maintenance. They were allowed by the trial Court.
HELD In revisions, the High Court, relying on the judgment of the Supreme Court in 2004 (8) Supreme 525 in Ruchi Agarwal case that it is not open to pursue the criminal complaint against husband once she has obtained divorce without contest on compromise terms. Moreover, sub-section (4) of Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure says that no wife shall be entitled to receive maintenance if they are living separately by mutual consent.
Order dated 6.3.2024 of the Allahabad High Court in Criminal Revision Nos.4152 and 4452 of 2023 of Anamika Chopra.
