The Chhattisgarh High Court has firmly ruled that a woman divorced on the proven ground of adultery is not entitled to claim maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Justice Arvind Kumar Verma delivered this judgment while setting aside a Family Court order that had earlier directed the husband to pay ₹4,000 monthly maintenance to his ex-wife.
The Court addressed two criminal revision petitions—one by the husband challenging the grant of maintenance, and the other by the wife seeking enhancement of the amount.
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The couple had married on July 11, 2019. The wife later alleged mental harassment and character assassination by her husband and his family, stating that she was forced to leave the matrimonial home on March 1, 2021. She filed a petition under Section 125 CrPC, claiming she had no means to support herself while her husband had multiple income sources, including a salary, rental income, and agricultural earnings. She demanded ₹20,000 per month.
The husband, however, refuted the claims, stating he worked as a contractual data entry operator earning ₹17,131 a month. More significantly, he submitted that the wife had been living in an adulterous relationship with his younger brother, which had been legally established. A Family Court had already granted a decree of divorce in his favour on September 8, 2023, based on her adulterous conduct.
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“If once the decree for divorce is granted on the ground of adultery, such finding is relevant for deciding the issue of adultery in the present case. The decree is passed on sufficient evidence and has not been challenged by the aggrieved party,” noted the High Court.
In her defence, the wife argued that ‘living in adultery’ implies a continuous adulterous relationship, which was not the case. She pointed out that she had been living with her brother and sister-in-law since March 2021. Her counsel cited past judgments asserting that isolated incidents of infidelity do not amount to ‘living in adultery’ and therefore cannot disqualify a woman from receiving maintenance.
However, the High Court disagreed with this view, observing:
“The decree obtained by the husband for divorce on proving the adulterous life of the wife cannot give her a right to revive a claim for maintenance. A divorced wife who lives in adultery, i.e., in an illicit relationship with another man, is disqualified from claiming maintenance under Section 125.”
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The Court emphasized that once adultery is proven in a court of law and a divorce decree is granted based on that, the disqualification for maintenance stands firm.
Setting aside the previous Family Court order, the High Court allowed the husband's plea and dismissed the wife's application for enhancement. The Court reiterated that Section 125(4) bars maintenance to a wife who is living in adultery or has left the matrimonial home without sufficient reason.
“A prudent answer to the question of whether a woman proven to have lived in adultery can later claim maintenance after divorce is an emphatic ‘No’,” Justice Verma asserted.
Case Title: X v/s Y
