No maintenance for wife living apart without reason: HC

No maintenance for wife living apart without reason: HC 

Rajesh Kumar Pandey TNN  13.07.2025

Prayagraj : A wife is not entitled to maintenance if she resides separately from her husband without valid reasons, Allahabad high court has held, setting aside a family court’s order. 

The HC’s Justice Subhash Chandra Sharma allowed a revision petition by Vipul Agarwal against a Feb 2025 order by afamily court in Meerut. “The trial court (family court) has recorded the finding that the wife failed to prove she had sufficient reasons for living separately from her husband or that he was neglecting to maintain her, even though the amount of maintenance has been fixed in favour of the wife as Rs 5,000 per month. As per Section 125(4) of criminal procedure code (CrPC), if the wife is living separately from the husband without sufficient reasons, she is not entitled to maintenance,” Justice Sharma said in his July 8 order. 

Agarwal’s counsel argued that despite the trial court’s finding of the wife living separately without sufficient reason, it erroneously awarded her Rs 5,000 monthly maintenance without considering the earning capacity of the husband. The family court had fixed Rs 5000 for Agarwal’s wife and Rs 3000 per month for their minor child. The counsel pointed out that Agarwal continued to pay Rs 3000 to his wife and Rs 2000 per month to their child. 

The counsel for the wife and state countered by saying she lived separately due to the husband’s neglect, justifying the trial court’s decision to grant maintenance. They argued that the trial court’s finding might be a clerical error and shouldn’t render the entire order illegal or erroneous. But Justice Sharma concluded that the family court’s findings about the wife and the maintenance order were contradictory and in violation of Section 125(4) CrPC, requiring “interference by this court (HC)”. 

Accordingly, the High ourt set aside the order and remanded the matter back to the family court to decide the case afresh after hearing both parties. In the meantime, the HC directed Agarwal to continue paying Rs 5,000 as interim maintenance.