[Sec 125 CrPC] Wife Having Spouse Living From Earlier Marriage Cannot Claim Maintenance If Valid Decree Of Divorce Was Not Obtained: M.P HC

While setting aside the maintenance order granted in favour of the Respondent (wife) the Madhya Pradesh High Court (Jabalpur Bench) held that a second wife whose marriage is void on account of survival of the first marriage would not be a legally wedded wife, and therefore would not be entitled to maintenance.

Highlighting that object of Section 125 CrPC is to prevent the wife from vagrancy and destitution, the Single Judge Bench of Justice Rajendra Kumar Verma observed that even though the Section is wide enough to include a woman under the term ‘wife’ who is living together with a man for a reasonable period, it cannot be applied in the present case as the Respondent had a spouse living from earlier marriage and a valid decree of divorce was not obtained.

“It is to be noted that decree of divorce can only be granted by the Court and divorce by such agreement is not valid in the eyes of law. Therefore, it can be reduced that at the time of alleged marriage, the respondent was already married to other people i.e. Sunil Kumar Gupta and he was alive”, added the Bench.

Advocate J.L. Soni appeared for the Petitioner, whereas Advocate Arvind Kumar Pathak appeared for the Respondent.

In the background of the case, the Petitioner (husband) got married to Respondent in 2017 as per Hindu rites and since then he pressurized her for dowry, tortured her, and finally ousted her from his house. Then she filed an application under Section 125 CrPC before the Family Court, which ordered the husband to pay Rs. 10000/- per month to the Respondent. The Petitioner presented before the Family Court that the Respondent has sufficient means of earning and is also still legally married to her first husband, hence the marriage between them is void and thus section 125 does not apply, which was ignored by the Family Court. Hence, the present revision petition.

After perusing the submission, the High Court while examining the scope of Section 125 observed that it is the intent of the legislature to not include within the scope of Section 125 of CrPC, a woman who is not a lawful wife.

The High Court elaborated that as per Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act, one of the conditions for a valid marriage is that neither party should have a spouse living at the time of the marriage and as per Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act, any marriage solemnized in contravention of the condition specified in clause (i) of Section 5 of Hindu Marriage Act is a void marriage.

Referring to PylaMutyalamma @ Satyavathi Vs. Pyla Suri Demudu & Another [(2011) 12 SCC 189], the Bench observed that while exercising its revisional jurisdiction, the Court cannot reappreciate evidence and decide the status of the parties before recording the order of maintenance.

Accordingly, while setting aside the order for grant of maintenance, the Bench allowed the petition.

Cause Title: Bhagwandas v. Panpati Shah

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