High Court will give weight to the factual conclusions of the trial court and that is what you need to emphasize in your arguments that the trial Court was in a position to know the facts during trial and the factual conclusions should not be interfered with. Having said that, your appeal will be based upon application of the law to the facts. The key in 125 Cr.P.C. is that the wife should not be able to maintain herself to the same standard as she had when she was living with her husband. A wife is NOT entitled to maintenance if she has deserted her husband unless the desertion was a result of cruelty by husband. Since you have established cruelty and desertion by her, she will not qualify. There are judgments and you need to do some research on that. However, with respect to the case cited by you or relied by her, the facts are very different. You are divorced, the judgment refers to married couples who have been separated for decades. There was no cruelty by the wife there... yours - there was cruelty by her. She deserted you not you... That judgment is of no use to your wife at all. In fact, a thorough parsing of the judgment shows that it is actually in your favor. There is a wrong notion that merely because the end result of a judgment is against what you want, it is not favorable to you. On the contrary, observations in that judgment can help you. Of course, you need to get some Supreme Court judgments where no maintenance was granted. But if you cannot, just focus on the facts of your case and how the facts dramatically differ from any case she cites. .
