For maintenance, no strict proof of marriage required’
September 15, 2009
The verdict by Justice Abhay Oka might bolster the case of
Pronouncing the verdict last week, Justice Oka awarded a maintenance of Rs 500 per month, with arrears since 1991, to petitioner Suman.
In her petition, Suman said that she got married to Nivrutti Satav in 1981.
Accusing him of marrying another woman, Surekha, after an year, she alleged that Nivrutti used to ill-treat her and threw her out of the house in 1991.
Suman who had a daughter from Nivrutti applied for maintenance in a magistrate's court but was denied as she failed to prove her marriage to him.
Nivrutti, in the court, also denied marrying her.
She challenged the decision before the High Court, which observed that "courts below proceeded on erroneous footing that it was necessary for the woman to strictly establish the marriage by establishing performance of religious rites" and awarded the maintenance to her.
The High Court, further, said, that as per the Supreme Court's earlier rulings "standard of proof of marriage" in cases under Section 125 of CrPC is not as strict as in other cases.
"Supreme Court has held that if the applicant in application under section 125 succeeds in showing that she had lived together with the respondent as wife and husband, the Court can presume that they are legally wedded spouses", Justice Oka noted.
The judge observed that in her case, Sarpanch and police patil of Phursungi (district Pune) had testified that Nivrutti was living with her for seven to eight years.
In the CrPC amendment, proposed by state government, a woman who has lived as wife with a man can claim maintenance though she may not have undergone marriage rites.
Source: Zee News
This article can be found in www.zeenews.com.
