Wife Does Not Have The Right To Get Maintenance From Her Husband If She Willingly Leaves The Matrimonial Home: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has declined to grant maintenance to a woman who voluntarily left the matrimonial home.

Justice Prashant Kumar’s bench, while hearing the case, said that it is clear from the provision of Section 125 (4) of CrPC that if a wife refuses to live with her husband, she has no right to get maintenance from her husband, and will not have rights.

The court quashed the order of the Mathura Family Court.

The woman claimed that she had not left the matrimonial home of her own free will. She had said that her in-laws used to demand more dowry than her.

It was said in the petition that the petitioner and his wife were married in 2015. After the marriage in 2017, the medical examination of the woman revealed that she could not become a mother, following which the petitioner lodged a complaint with the police against his wife and her family members. It was alleged by the petitioner that his wife and her family members had assaulted him and his family members.

The petitioner had applied for divorce in January 2018.

In February 2018, the woman filed a case against her husband and his family members under sections 498A, 504, 323, 377 of the IPC under the Dowry Prohibition Act. The counsel for the woman argued that she had not left her matrimonial home. No woman leaves her matrimonial home without any reason. She was forced to do so by her in-laws.

Case: Gaurav Vashishtha V State of U.P. and Another ( CRIMINAL REVISION No. – 4498 of 2022 )

Read the Judgment here-