Court Denies Maintenance to Wife for Husband's Incapacity Due to Her Family's Actions

The Allahabad High Court ruled that a wife cannot seek maintenance from her husband if her actions or omissions contribute to his incapacity to earn. The court upheld the family court's decision denying maintenance due to the husband's incapacity caused by the wife's family.

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that a wife whose actions or omissions contribute to her husband's incapacity to earn cannot claim maintenance from him. The court dismissed a woman's petition seeking maintenance from her husband, a homoeopathic doctor shot by her brother and father during an altercation.

Justice Lakshmi Kant Shukla upheld the Kushinagar family court's decision rejecting the maintenance application. The court observed that granting maintenance in this scenario would cause grave injustice, as the man's earning capacity was directly affected by the criminal acts of the wife's family.

The high court noted that a pellet lodged in the husband's spinal cord posed a significant surgical risk, preventing him from maintaining employment, directly linking his incapacity to the wife's family. The court emphasized that no legal duty is cast upon a wife to provide for the husband, marking this case as a unique exception to typical societal expectations.

(With inputs from agencies.)