look news india
The Supreme Court has said in an important decision that even if a woman does not obey the order to live with her husband, she can be given the right to maintenance, provided she has a valid reason for refusing to live together. A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, while disposing of the legal dispute on the issue, said that a husband who has ordered restoration of conjugal rights cannot be exempted from paying maintenance to the wife if the wife has a valid reason.
The bench clarified that there cannot be any rigid rule in this matter and it will depend on the specific circumstances of each case. The Court said that it depends on the facts of individual cases and has to be decided on the basis of available material and evidence whether the wife has a valid and sufficient reason for refusing to live with the husband.
The judgment was given in the case of a Jharkhand couple who were married in May 2014 but separated in August 2015. The husband approached the family court for restoration of conjugal rights, while the wife alleged that the husband had subjected her to mental torture and demanded dowry. The family court ordered the wife to live with the husband, but the wife did not comply and filed a petition for maintenance.
The family court ordered the husband to pay maintenance of Rs 10,000 per month to the wife. The husband challenged this order in the Jharkhand High Court, which did not consider the wife entitled to maintenance. However, the wife appealed to the apex court, which ruled in her favour.
The Supreme Court said that the High Court should not have given due importance to this case. The court also said that the wife was not allowed to use proper facilities at the in-laws’ house, which was a sign of abuse. As a result, the Court set aside the High Court decision and upheld the family court order and directed the husband to pay maintenance of Rs 10,000 per month to the wife. The arrears of maintenance will be paid in three equal installments, payable from the date of application, 3 August 2019.