Even if they are not married, a woman living with a man is entitled to maintenance: MP HC

BHOPAL/JABALPUR: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that a woman who has lived with a man for a significant amount of time, even if they were not legally married, is entitled to support upon their separation.

Shailesh Bopche, the petitioner, filed a high court plea after a Balaghat district court ordered him to provide a lady he had lived with but was no longer with a monthly payment of Rs 1,500.

Bopche appealed the ruling, arguing that the district court had recognised the claimant’s inability to provide proof of their temple marriage. The HC denied his request.
The sole point of argument raised by Bopche’s lawyer, according to the bench of Justice G. S. Ahluwalia, is that the plea for maintenance allowance under Section 125 of the CrPC is unmaintainable since the lady is not his legal wife. The judge said that neither the trial court nor the lady had been able to establish that their marriage was consummated in a temple.
“But the trial court has given a finding that since the applicant and respondent were living as husband and wife for a considerably long time and the respondent has also given birth to a child, the respondent is entitled to maintenance,” the ruling states.
According to Justice Ahluwalia, the courts decided that in cases where there was sufficient evidence to determine that the couple was living together, maintenance could not be refused.