Wife cannot claim maintenance if her family caused husband’s incapacity: HC
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Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has ruled that a wife cannot claim maintenance from her husband if her actions or omissions, or those of her family, contribute to his incapacity to earn.
The court dismissed a revision petition filed by a woman seeking maintenance from her husband, Ved Prakash Singh, a homoeopathic doctor, who was allegedly shot at by his brother-in-law and father-in-law during an altercation at his clinic.
Upholding the decision of the family court in Kushinagar, which had earlier rejected the wife’s maintenance application, Justice Lakshmi Kant Shukla observed that granting maintenance in such circumstances would result in grave injustice, particularly when the husband’s earning capacity was destroyed by criminal acts committed by the wife’s family.
The court noted that a pellet remains lodged in Singh’s spinal cord and that surgery to remove it carries a high risk of paralysis, leaving him unable to sit comfortably or maintain employment.
The family court, on May 7, 2025, had rejected the wife’s application for interim maintenance. The high court upheld this decision, emphasising that the husband’s physical incapacity was undisputed and directly caused by members of the wife’s family.
“While Indian society generally expects a husband to work and maintain his family, this case presents unique circumstances,” Justice Shukla observed.
“It is well settled that, though it is the pious obligation of a husband to maintain his wife, no such explicit legal duty has been cast upon the wife by any court of law.”
In this case, the court noted, the conduct of the wife and her family members rendered the husband incapable of earning a livelihood. “If a wife, by her own acts or omissions, causes or contributes to the incapacity of her husband to earn, she cannot be permitted to take advantage of such a situation and claim maintenance. Granting maintenance in such circumstances would result in grave injustice to the husband, and the court cannot shut its eyes to the reality emerging from the record,” it added.
With PTI inputs