Can willfully deserted wife without any reason eligible for maintenanc

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desertion can affect the right of maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The court may refuse to grant maintenance to a wife who has deserted her husband without any sufficient reason or if they are living separately by mutual consent. However, a wife who has been divorced on the ground of desertion by her husband can still claim maintenance under this section. Desertion is one of the grounds for divorce under Hindu law, as well as a ground for claiming maintenance by the deserted spouse. However, the right to claim maintenance is not absolute and depends on various factors such as the conduct of the parties, the reason for desertion, the financial status of the spouse, etc. According to Section 18 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, a Hindu wife is entitled to be maintained by her husband during her lifetime, unless she is unchaste or ceases to be a Hindu by conversion. She can also live separately from her husband without forfeiting her claim to maintenance if he is guilty of desertion, cruelty, adultery, conversion, or any other justifiable cause. According to Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, any person who has sufficient means but neglects or refuses to maintain his wife who is unable to maintain herself can be ordered by a magistrate to pay a monthly allowance to her. However, this provision does not apply if the wife is living in adultery, or if she refuses to live with her husband without any sufficient reason, or if they are living separately by mutual consent. The Supreme Court has held that a wife who has been divorced on the ground of desertion by her husband is still entitled to claim maintenance under Section 125 CrPC. The court observed that once the relationship of marriage comes to an end, the wife is not under any obligation to live with her former husband and the deeming fiction of the divorced wife being treated as a wife can only be read for the limited purpose of grant of maintenance. The court also held that the husband cannot escape his liability to maintain his wife by pleading that she deserted him and that he has no regular source of income. The court said that the maintenance amount should be fixed according to the standard of living of the wife in the matrimonial home and taking into account the inflation and cost of living. Upon the grant of divorce on the ground of desertion, the wife can claim permanent alimony and maintenance from the husband as part of the proceedings for divorce.

Advocate Kulwant Singh LawRato