 "Bombay HC: Can't deny maintenance to 2nd wife, while still married to first")
The Bombay High Court, through a single-judge bench of Justice Rajesh Patil on December 14, upheld a 2015 magistrate's order requiring monthly maintenance of Rs 2,500 for a woman who had been led to believe her husband had divorced his first wife before marrying her in 1989. The court, citing legal provisions for the maintenance of a wife, also permitted the woman to seek an increase in the maintenance amount, according to a report by The Times of India.
The case unfolded when the woman, now 55, filed a plea in 2012, claiming she was under the impression that her husband had divorced his first wife due to her inability to conceive a son before entering into a second marriage. The magistrate's initial decision in 2015, based on the husband's monthly income of Rs 50,000-Rs 60,000, granted her Rs 2,500 as monthly maintenance.
However, the husband contested the decision in a Niphad sessions court, asserting that he had never officially married the woman. In April 2022, the sessions court overturned the magistrate's order. Undeterred, the woman appealed to the Bombay High Court, revealing that she had married the man in 1989 and bore a son in 1991. Complicating matters, the first wife, with the involvement of mediators and her consent, resumed cohabiting with the husband, giving birth to a son.
The High Court, referencing a 1999 Supreme Court ruling, highlighted that the standard of proof of marriage in a Section 125 proceeding is not as rigorous as required for an offence under Indian Penal Code Section 494. Emphasising the husband's acknowledgment as the father on both sons' school documents, the court dismissed the sessions court's decision, allowing the woman two months to receive outstanding dues for the past nine years. Additionally, the woman was granted the right to file a fresh plea for an increased maintenance amount.