Being well qualified does not mean wife is capable of maintaining herself: Himachal Pradesh High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court recently observed that just because a woman (wife) is educationally well-qualified, it does not always mean that she is capable of maintaining herself. .The Court made the observation while setting aside a family court order denying interim maintenance to a woman accused of adultery by her husband..Justice Sushil Kukreja disagreed with the family court’s observation that since the woman was well-educated, she was perfectly capable of maintaining herself..“Being well qualified does not mean that she is perfectly capable of maintaining herself and making decent livelihood, as held by the learned Trial Court,” the High Court held in an October 13 judgment. .It added that the laws of maintenance in the country are welfare-based measures that exist to ensure that the wife, children and parents of a man are not left to become destitute when they are not capable of maintaining themselves..On the allegations of adultery against the woman, the Court found that except for the WhatsApp chats, no concrete material was placed on record by the husband to prove these claims. “The question as to whether the petitioner (wife) is living in adultery or not can only be decided after leading evidence by both the parties and at this stage only on the basis of whatsapp chats, it cannot be concluded that the petitioner is living in adultery with some other person,” the High Court said..The family court had earlier turned down the woman’s application for interim maintenance under Section 125(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on the ground of her allegedly having indulged in adultery. .It had also taken into account the fact she is well-qualified since she held postgraduate degrees in Arts and Business Administration and had also has done a certificate course in Computer Science. .The woman alleged that her husband had started harassing her soon after their marriage and that he had forced her to leave the matrimonial home citing allegations of adultery.In response to the wife's plea for maintenance, the husband counter-alleged that she had sufficient resources to maintain herself as she was well qualified. He also accused his wife of deserting him and maintaining relations with someone else..The High Court opined that there was no doubt that a wife living in adultery was not entitled to receive maintenance from her husband. However, in this case, the High Court observed that WhatsApp chats were not sufficient to prove adultery.It also noted that no material was placed on record by the husband to prove his claim that his wife had an independent source of income or that she was earning independently..Accordingly, the High Court set aside the family court order and remanded the matter back to it for fresh decision..Advocate Ajay Chandel represented the petitioner (wife). Advocate Hemant Kumar represented the respondent (husband)..[Read Judgment]