Second husband liable to pay maintenance even if first marriage not dissolved: Supreme Court-OxBig News Network

A woman is entitled to claim maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) from her second husband even if her first marriage was not legally dissolved, the Supreme Court has ruled.

“It must be borne in mind that the right to maintenance under Section 125 CrPC is not a benefit received by a wife but rather a legal and moral duty owed by the husband,” a bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice SC Sharma said in its January 20 verdict.

Allowing the wife’s appeal against the high court’s April 13, 2017 verdict, the top court restored the maintenance awarded to her by the family court on July 26, 2012.

Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Sharma said a formal decree of divorce was not mandatory. If the woman and her first husband mutually agreed to separate, the absence of a legal divorce did not prevent her from seeking maintenance from her second husband, the bench said.

“When the social justice objective of maintenance u/s 125CrPC is considered against the particular facts and circumstances of this case, we cannot, in good conscience, deny maintenance to Appellant No. 1 (wife). It is settled law that social welfare provisions must be subjected to an expansive and beneficial construction and this understanding has been extended to maintenance…,” the top court said.

It said, “An alternate interpretation would not only explicitly defeat the purpose of the provision by permitting vagrancy and destitution, but would also give legal sanction to the actions of the respondent in knowingly entering into a marriage with Appellant No.1, availing its privileges but escaping its consequent duties and obligations.

“The only conceivable mischief that could arise in permitting a beneficial interpretation is that the Appellant No.1 could claim dual maintenance — however, that is not the case under the present facts,” it said.

The Telangana High Court had denied her maintenance under Section 125 CrPC from her second husband as her marriage with the first husband was not legally dissolved.

The woman had married her second husband without obtaining a formal divorce from her first husband. Her second husband was aware of her first marriage. She had a daughter from second marriage but the couple separated due to matrimonial disputes, leading to the present litigation.