Gujarat HC denies maintenance to wife who voluntarily left matrimonial home

In a significant ruling, Gujarat High Court has held that a wife is not entitled to maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) if she chooses to live separately from her husband without any "justifiable cause".

The single bench observed that the applicant failed to substantiate her claims of cruelty. During cross-examination, the wife admitted she had not explicitly stated in her original application that her husband had thrown her out or deserted her.

Crucially, the court noted the wife’s "recalcitrant approach". Despite the husband filing a legal declaration (pursis) expressing his willingness to take her back and live happily, the wife flatly refused. She testified that even if her husband agreed to live separately from his joint family or met her specific conditions, she still would not return to him.

The court relied heavily on Section 125(4) of the CrPC, which stipulates that a wife cannot receive maintenance if she refuses to live with her husband without sufficient or valid reason.

The court remarked that, if a wife has chosen to live separately from her husband without any valid reason or justifiable cause, she is not entitled for maintenance."

The couple got married in November 2009. She moved the high court to challenge a 2013 judgment by the Family Court, Rajkot, which had dismissed her application for maintenance. The applicant wife alleged that she was subjected to ill-treatment and harassment by her husband and in-laws, eventually being forced to return to her parental home.