Court asks man to allow estranged wife in shared household

A woman and her child have every right to reside in the household she shared with her husband after marriage, till the disposal of any matrimonial dispute between them, a local court has held.
Metropolitan magistrate Rachna Lakhanpal made these observations while passing interim residence order in favour of a woman who had moved the court seeking directions to her estranged husband to allow her to live in the matrimonial house till a dispute between them concerning domestic violence was decided.
"Complainant (woman) and her child have every right to reside in the shared household till final disposal of the case and the respondents (estranged husband and his mother) are restrained from dispossessing her from the shared household till final�disposal�of�the�case�without�due�process�of�law," the court said.

While passing the order, the court held the man's household to be shared with the complainant since they resided there together after marriage.
The court also said that the husband and his mother, residing in northwest Delhi, would not create any hindrance to the woman using the facilities of kitchen and toilet or interfere with the supply of water and electricity to the portion of the household she would stay.
The magistrate also directed a protection officer to facilitate the woman's peaceful entrance in the house while the SHO concerned was asked to provide necessary assistance if required.

The court also directed the man to provide a maintenance amount of Rs 4,000 to his estranged wife and Rs 1,500 to the child per month.

In her plea for interim maintenance and residence order, the woman had alleged cruel treatment by her husband, whom she married in 2000, and told the court that she was thrown out of the matrimonial house.
The allegations were denied by the husband.
The court, however, said allegations of cruelty or counter allegations cannot be decided with the application for interim maintenance and interim residence.