The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has issued a directive mandating a Muslim petitioner to provide financial maintenance to his spouse pending the establishment of the asserted divorce.
While Muslim personal law does not inherently provide for post-divorce maintenance, Justice Rajnesh Oswal underscored the inequity in compelling a wife to subsist without financial support from her husband in the absence of conclusive evidence substantiating the dissolution of the marriage.
The court articulated that the denial of maintenance contradicts the underlying objectives of Section 488 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Pari Materia with Section 125 of the CrPC), which is designed to afford interim financial relief to women entangled in marital discord.
In light of the petitioner’s conflicting statements regarding divorce and the wife’s voluntary departure, the High Court determined the inadequate establishment of the dissolution of marriage. Consequently, the court affirmed the trial court’s decision, obligating the petitioner to remit a monthly sum of Rs. 7000 to respondent No.1 (wife).
The court, cognizant of the potential miscarriage of justice in withholding maintenance based solely on unproven divorce claims, reiterated the imperative of aligning such decisions with the principles encapsulated in Section 488 of the CrPC.
“It shall defeat the whole purpose of Section 488 of Cr. P. C. Taking into consideration the object of the said provision, the concept of interim maintenance was evolved by the Supreme Court in ‘Savitri v. Govind Singh Rawat [(1985)4SCC 337]”.
Considering the aforementioned circumstances, the Court identified no misuse or improper conduct of legal procedures that would justify the Court’s intervention. Consequently, the plea was rejected.