Woman living with husband cannot seek maintenance from paramour: Bombay High Court

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court recently clarified that a married woman who is living with her husband but is in a relationship with another man cannot seek maintenance and other rights from her paramour under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

While quashing and setting aside a complaint lodged by a woman against a 59-year-old man and his two children, Justice S B Shukhre said, "I am of the view that the case of the respondent is completely out of the purview of the Act. Therefore, if the proceedings are allowed to be continued, it would be nothing but an abuse of the process of law."

"It is crystal clear that a woman who is married cannot enter into a domestic relationship as contemplated under section 2(f) of the DV act and even if she establishes a long standing relationship with a man as his concubine or mistress, she would not be entitled to protection under the provisions of the Act," said the bench.

The court also took into account the fact that the woman had never lived with the man. "Living with another person in a shared household is an essential ingredient of the domestic relationship as contemplated under section 2(f) of the Act," the bench said.

The man against whom the complaint was filed had approached the high court challenging an order passed by the magistrate directing him to pay the complainant maintenance and the registration of a complaint under the DV act. He had argued that, "The respondent (woman) could not have entered into a 'domestic relationship' as under section 2 of the Act as it is an admitted fact that she is a married woman and her marriage still subsists."

However, the woman opposed the petition by arguing that whether she was in a domestic relationship with the petitioner or not could be decided in the light of the contentions and evidence brought on record only by the trial court. The HC rejected these arguments and allowed the man's petition.