Maintenance Under DV Act Cannot Be Denied Solely Because The Grievance Arose In Second Marriage: Delhi HC [Read Judgment]

The Delhi High Court recently set aside a lower Court order, which had denied maintenance to the wife under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (DV Act) solely because she was married before.

“The incidences of domestic violence have been enumerated in Section 3 of the Act which defines domestic violence and it includes physical, verbal, emotional and economic abuse. From the evidence on record, there is no dispute about the petitioner having been subjected to domestic violence. It would then make no difference, so far as maintenance is concerned, if the petitioner was earlier married to somebody else and the same fact was not brought on record,” Justice Ashutosh Kumar observed.

The Court was hearing a petition challenging a lower Court order allowing maintenance only to her minor daughter and denying her maintenance. The only reason granted by the Court for the denial was that this was the Petitioner’s second marriage.

The High Court, however, refused to accept this reasoning, and noted that the fact of the Petitioner being in a domestic relationship with the respondent and sharing a household was established.

Justice Singh then opined that the Court, while dealing with a complaint of domestic violence under Section 12 of the DV Act, is not competent to decide on the validity of marriage between the parties.

“The case of the petitioner is that she was betrothed to one Noor Mohd while she was only 14 years of age and the marriage between her and Noor Mohd was never consummated as there was no rukhsati. Assuming but not admitting this fact to be incorrect, what cannot be doubted is that the petitioner had lived with the respondent and was subjected to domestic violence. The Appellate Court seems to have misdirected himself in taking it upon himself to decide whether a valid marriage existed between the petitioner and the respondent,” the Court observed.

It, therefore, allowed the wife’s Petition, and directed payment of maintenance of Rs. 12,500 per month, collectively to the mother and the daughter.