The verdict by justice Abhay Oka might bolster the case of the Maharashtra government, which had proposed to amend the CrPC to benefit women who could not prove marriage legally.
For the purpose of granting maintenance to a neglected wife under section 125 of criminal procedure code, no strict proof of marriage is necessary, Bombay High Court recently held.
The verdict by justice Abhay Oka might bolster the case of the Maharashtra government, which had proposed to amend the CrPC to extend benefit of maintenance to those women who could not prove marriage legally.
In the present case, petitioner Suman married Nivrutti Satav in 1981. A year later, according to her, Nivrutti married another woman called Surekha.
He later began ill-treating Suman, and finally drove her out of the house in 1991. Suman -- who has had a daughter by him -- applied to magistrate's court for maintenance.
Nivrutti denied that he was married to her. The court held that she had failed to prove her marriage, and denied her maintenance.
She challenged the ruling in High Court. In the judgement last week, justice Oka 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".
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.
Further, the High Court 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.
The objective of CrPC provision was just to make available to woman a "speedy remedy to obtain maintenance", High Court said.
"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.
High Court then reversed finding of lower court, and awarded her maintenance of Rs500 per month, with arrears since 1991.
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.
But the proposal is yet make any headway, as opposition as well as some members of ruling Congress-NCP alliance alleged that government wanted to "legalise" live-in relationships through this amendment.
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