2007 JTR(SC) 1501
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2007(8) Supreme 525
Supreme Court of india
(From Madhya Pradesh High Court)
Dr. Arijit Pasayat & Aftab Alam, JJ.
Chaturbhuj — Petitioner
versus
Sita Bai — Respondent
Appeal (crl.) 1627 of 2007
(Arising out of SLP (Crl.) No.4379 of 2006)
Decided on : 27-11-2007
important point
The expression “unable to maintain herself” does not mean that the wife must be absolutely destitute before she can apply for maintenance under Section 125 Cr. P.C.
Act
Referred
:CONSTITUTION OF INDIA : Art.15(3), Art.39
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE : S.125
(A) The provisions of Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, read in conjunction with Article 15(3) and Article 39 of the Constitution of India, 1950, establish a social welfare legislation aimed at preventing vagrancy and destitution by compelling a spouse with sufficient means to provide monthly maintenance to a wife who is unable to maintain herself. The constitutional clauses reinforce the Directive Principles ensuring gender justice and support for women who are deserted or unable to sustain themselves. The section outlines the qualifications for wife, including a woman divorced or separated without remarriage, and sets a cap on the allowance, while emphasizing that the liability arises only when there is neglect or refusal to maintain and the wife lacks sufficient means. The burden of proving sufficiency of means lies on the husband, but the ultimate question is whether the wife is, in fact, unable to maintain herself having regard to her income and standard of living.
(B) Key legal principles include: the non-punitive object of maintenance proceedings under Section 125 Cr.P.C.; the necessity to show that the wife is unable to maintain herself; the husbands duty to maintain if he has sufficient means; the wifes right to maintenance irrespective of her earning if such earnings are insufficient; and the consideration that a wife living in adultery or refusing to cohabit without just cause is disqualified. The standard of living is to be consistent with the familys status, and mere earning capacity does not negate the claim if it is insufficient for self-maintenance.
Facts of the case:
The appellant and the respondent-wife had entered into matrimony about four decades prior and had been living separately for more than two decades. The respondent filed an application under Section 125 Cr.P.C. seeking maintenance, alleging unemployment and inability to maintain herself. The appellant, retired as Assistant Director of Agriculture, asserted a monthly pension of approximately Rs.5,700, additional income from house rent and lending money, and claimed that the respondent had sold agricultural land and had sufficient proceeds to maintain herself. The trial Court held that the respondent did not have sufficient means to maintain herself and awarded Rs.1,500 per month. The High Court, upon revision and invocation of Section 482 Cr.P.C., noted that the appellant had sufficient monthly income above Rs.10,000 and concluded that the evidence did not support the claim of inability to maintain, thereby dismissing the petition.
Findings of Court:
The courts below analyzed the evidence and determined that although the respondent had some income, it was insufficient for her self-maintenance, and the appellant had the requisite means to provide maintenance. The High Court specifically observed that the conclusions were based on appreciation of evidence and found no perversity in the findings. The appeal before this Court was dismissed as there was no scope for interference with the factual findings.
Issues:
Whether a wife with insufficient personal income is unable to maintain herself within the meaning of Section 125 Cr.P.C., even if she has some earnings, and whether the husbands sufficient means create an absolute liability to pay maintenance irrespective of her actual financial condition.
Ratio Decidendi:
The liability to pay maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C. arises when the husband has sufficient means and the wife is unable to maintain herself, with unable to maintain herself meaning that her personal income is inadequate to sustain her in the standard of living to which she was accustomed during the marriage. The wifes ability to maintain herself must be judged on the material placed before the tribunal, and mere earnings do not negate the claim if insufficient.
Result:
The appeal is dismissed, the order of the High Court is upheld, and the revision petition is dismissed.
(A) The provisions of Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, read in conjunction with Article 15(3) and Article 39 of the Constitution of India, 1950, establish a social welfare legislation aimed at preventing vagrancy and destitution by compelling a spouse with sufficient means to provide monthly maintenance to a wife who is unable to maintain herself. The constitutional clauses reinforce the Directive Principles ensuring gender justice and support for women who are deserted or unable to sustain themselves. The section outlines the qualifications for wife, including a woman divorced or separated without remarriage, and sets a cap on the allowance, while emphasizing that the liability arises only when there is neglect or refusal to maintain and the wife lacks sufficient means. The burden of proving sufficiency of means lies on the husband, but the ultimate question is whether the wife is, in fact, unable to maintain herself having regard to her income and standard of living.
(B) Key legal principles include: the non-punitive object of maintenance proceedings under Section 125 Cr.P.C.; the necessity to show that the wife is unable to maintain herself; the husbands duty to maintain if he has sufficient means; the wifes right to maintenance irrespective of her earning if such earnings are insufficient; and the consideration that a wife living in adultery or refusing to cohabit without just cause is disqualified. The standard of living is to be consistent with the familys status, and mere earning capacity does not negate the claim if it is insufficient for self-maintenance.
Facts of the case:
The appellant and the respondent-wife had entered into matrimony about four decades prior and had been living separately for more than two decades. The respondent filed an application under Section 125 Cr.P.C. seeking maintenance, alleging unemployment and inability to maintain herself. The appellant, retired as Assistant Director of Agriculture, asserted a monthly pension of approximately Rs.5,700, additional income from house rent and lending money, and claimed that the respondent had sold agricultural land and had sufficient proceeds to maintain herself. The trial Court held that the respondent did not have sufficient means to maintain herself and awarded Rs.1,500 per month. The High Court, upon revision and invocation of Section 482 Cr.P.C., noted that the appellant had sufficient monthly income above Rs.10,000 and concluded that the evidence did not support the claim of inability to maintain, thereby dismissing the petition.
Findings of Court:
The courts below analyzed the evidence and determined that although the respondent had some income, it was insufficient for her self-maintenance, and the appellant had the requisite means to provide maintenance. The High Court specifically observed that the conclusions were based on appreciation of evidence and found no perversity in the findings. The appeal before this Court was dismissed as there was no scope for interference with the factual findings.
Issues:
Whether a wife with insufficient personal income is unable to maintain herself within the meaning of Section 125 Cr.P.C., even if she has some earnings, and whether the husbands sufficient means create an absolute liability to pay maintenance irrespective of her actual financial condition.
Ratio Decidendi:
The liability to pay maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C. arises when the husband has sufficient means and the wife is unable to maintain herself, with unable to maintain herself meaning that her personal income is inadequate to sustain her in the standard of living to which she was accustomed during the marriage. The wifes ability to maintain herself must be judged on the material placed before the tribunal, and mere earnings do not negate the claim if insufficient.
Result:
The appeal is dismissed, the order of the High Court is upheld, and the revision petition is dismissed.
JUDGMENT
Dr. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.—
1.Leave granted.
2.Challenge in this appeal is to the order passed by a learned Single Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Indore Bench, dismissing the revision petition filed by the appellant in terms of Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (in short ‘Cr. P.C.’). The challenge before the High Court was to the order passed by learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Neemuch, M.P. as affirmed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Neemuch, M.P. The respondent had filed an application under Section 125 of Cr. P.C. claiming maintenance from the appellant. Undisputedly, the appellant and the respondent had entered into marital knot about four decades back and for more than two decades they were living separately. In the application it was claimed that she was unemployed and unable to maintain herself. Appellant had retired from the post of Assistant Director of Agriculture and was getting about Rs. 8,000/- as pension and a similar amount as house rent. Besides this, he was lending money to people on interest. The appellant claimed Rs.10,000/- as maintenance. The stand of the appellant was that the applicant was living in the house constructed by the present appellant who had purchased 7 bighas of land in Ratlam in the name of the applicant. She let out the house on rent and since 1979 was residing with one of their sons. The applicant sold the agricultural land on 13.3.2003. The sale proceeds were still with the applicant. The appellant was getting pension of about Rs.5,700/- p.m. and was not getting any house rent regularly. He was getting 2-3 thousand rupees per month. The plea that the appellant had married another lady was denied. It was further submitted that the applicant at the relevant point of time was staying in the house of the appellant and electricity and water dues were being paid by him. The applicant can maintain herself from the money received from the sale of agricultural land and rent. Considering the evidence on record, the trial Court found that the applicant-respondent did not have sufficient means to maintain herself.
3.Revision petition was filed by the present appellant. Challenge was to the direction to pay Rs.1500/- p.m. by the trial Court. The stand was that the applicant was able to maintain herself from her income was reiterated. The revisional court analysed the evidence and held that the appellant’s monthly income was more than Rs.10,000/- and the amount received as rent by the respondent-claimant was not sufficient to maintain herself. The revision was accordingly dismissed. The matter was further carried before the High Court by filing an application in terms of Section 482 Cr. P.C. The High Court noticed that the conclusions have been arrived at on appreciation of evidence and, therefore, there is no scope for any interference.
4.Section 125 Cr. P.C. reads as follows:
“125. (1) If any person having sufficient means neglects or refuses to maintain —
(a)his wife, unable to maintain herself, or
(b)his legitimate or illegitimate minor child, whether married or not, unable to maintain itself, or
(c)his legitimate or illegitimate child (not being a married daughter) who has attained majority, where such child is, by reason of any physical or mental abnormality or injury unable to maintain itself, or
(d)his father or mother, unable to maintain himself or herself, a Magistrate of the First Class may, upon proof of such neglect or refusal, order such person to make a monthly allowance for the maintenance of his wife or such child, father or mother, at such monthly rate not exceeding five hundred rupees in the whole, as such Magistrate thinks fit, and to pay the same to such person as the Magistrate may from time to time direct :
Provided that the Magistrate may order the father of a minor female child referred to in clause (b) to make such allowance, until she attains her majority, if the Magistrate is satisfied that the husband of such minor female child, if married, is not possessed of sufficient means.
Explanation — For the purposes of this Chapter,
(a)‘minor’ means a person who, under the provisions of the Indian Majority Act, 1875 (9 of 1875), is deemed not to have attained his majority;
(b)‘wife’ includes a woman who has been divorced by, or has obtained a divorce from, her husband and has not remarried.”
[“(2) Any such allowance for the maintenance or interim maintenance and expenses of proceeding shall be payable from the date of the order, or, if so ordered, from the date of the application for maintenance or interim maintenance and expenses of proceeding, as the case may be.”;]
(3)If any person so ordered fails without sufficient cause to comply with the order, any such Magistrate may, for every breach of the order, issue a warrant for levying the amount due in the manner provided for levying fines, and may sentence such person, for the whole, or any port of each month’s allowance 4 [allowance for the maintenance or the interim maintenance and expenses of proceeding , as the case may be] remaining unpaid after the execution of the warrant, to imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month or until payment if sooner made:
Provided that no warrant shall be issued for the recovery of any amount due under this section unless application be made to the Court to levy such amount within a period of one year from the date on which it became due:
Provided further that if such person offers to maintain his wife on condition of her living with him, and she refuses to live with him, such Magistrate may consider any grounds of refusal stated by her, and may make an order under this section notwithstanding such offer, if he is satisfied that there is just ground for so doing.
Explanation.-If a husband has contracted marriage with another woman or keeps a mistress, it shall be considered to be just ground for his wife’s refusal to live with him.
(4)No wife shall be entitled to receive an 4 [allowance for the maintenance or the interim maintenance and expenses of proceeding , as the case may be] from her husband under this section if she is living in adultery, or if, without any sufficient reason, she refuses to live with her, husband, or if they are living separately by mutual consent.
(5)On proof that any wife in whose favour an order has been made under this section is living in adultery, or that without sufficient reason she refuses to live with her husband, or that they are living separately by mutual consent, the Magistrate shall cancel the order.”
5.The object of the maintenance proceedings is not to punish a person for his past neglect, but to prevent vagrancy by compelling those who can provide support to those who are unable to support themselves and who have a moral claim to support. The phrase “unable to maintain herself” in the instant case would mean that means available to the deserted wife while she was living with her husband and would not take within itself the efforts made by the wife after desertion to survive somehow. Section 125 Cr. P.C. is a measure of social justice and is specially enacted to protect women and children and as noted by this Court in Captain Ramesh Chander Kaushal v. Mrs. Veena Kaushal and Ors.1, (AIR 1978 SC 1807) falls within constitutional sweep of Article 15(3) reinforced by Article 39 of the Constitution of India, 1950 (in short the ‘Constitution’). It is meant to achieve a social purpose. The object is to prevent vagrancy and destitution. It provides a speedy remedy for the supply of food, clothing and shelter to the deserted wife. It gives effect to fundamental rights and natural duties of a man to maintain his wife, children and parents when they are unable to maintain themselves. The aforesaid position was highlighted in Savitaben Somabhai Bhatiya v. State of Gujarat and Ors.2, (2005 (2) Supreme 503).
6.Under the law the burden is placed in the first place upon the wife to show that the means of her husband are sufficient. In the instant case there is no dispute that the appellant has the requisite means.
7.But there is an inseparable condition which has also to be satisfied that the wife was unable to maintain herself. These two conditions are in addition to the requirement that the husband must have neglected or refused to maintain his wife. It is has to be established that the wife was unable to maintain herself. The appellant has placed material to show that the respondent-wife was earning some income. That is not sufficient to rule out application of Section 125 Cr. P.C. It has to be established that with the amount she earned the respondent-wife was able to maintain herself.
8.In an illustrative case where wife was surviving by begging, would not amount to her ability to maintain herself. It can also be not said that the wife has been capable of earning but she was not making an effort to earn. Whether the deserted wife was unable to maintain herself, has to be decided on the basis of the material placed on record. Where the personal income of the wife is insufficient she can claim maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C. The test is whether the wife is in a position to maintain herself in the way she was used to in the place of her husband. In Bhagwan v. Kamla Devi3, (AIR 1975 SC 83) it was observed that the wife should be in a position to maintain standard of living which is neither luxurious nor penurious but what is consistent with status of a family. The expression “unable to maintain herself” does not mean that the wife must be absolutely destitute before she can apply for maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C.
9.In the instant case the trial Court, the Revisional Court and the High Court have analysed the evidence and held that the respondent wife was unable to maintain herself. The conclusions are essentially factual and they are not perverse. That being so there is no scope for interference in this appeal which is dismissed.
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