Wife Can't Claim Maintenance If Her Action Causes Husband's Inability To Earn: Allahabad HC

Allahabad High Court recently observed that if a wife cannot claim maintenance from a husband if her  actions or omissions contribute to her husband’s incapacity to earn.

While hearing a revision petition by a woman seeking maintenance from her husband, a  homoeopathic doctor, who was allegedly shot at by his brother-in-law and father-in-law during an altercation at his clinic, the high court unhelp a family court’s decision  which rejected the maintenance application of the wife. The family court had pointed out that granting maintenance in such a scenario would result in grave injustice, especially when the man’s earning capacity was destroyed by the criminal acts of the wife’s family.

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The family court had rejected the wife’s application for interim maintenance last year. During the altercation at his clinic, the husband was allegedly shot at by his wife’s brother and father rendering him incapable of earning or providing maintenance to her.

However, the High Court noted that a  pellet remains lodged in the husband’s spinal cord and a surgery to remove it carries a high risk of paralysis, leaving him unable to sit comfortably or maintain employment.

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The Court observed that while Indian society generally expects a husband to work and maintain his family, this case presented unique circumstances, adding that it is well settled that though it is the pious obligation of a husband to maintain his wife, no such explicit legal duty has been cast upon the wife by any court of law.

“If a wife by her own acts or omissions causes or contributes to the incapacity of her husband to earn, she cannot be permitted to take advantage of such a situation and claim maintenance. Granting maintenance in such circumstances would result in grave injustice to the husband, and the court cannot shut its eyes from the reality emerging from the record,” the court added.