Husband Supporting Second Wife Can't Ignore First Wife's Claim For Maintenance: High Court

A husband's financial ability to support a second wife cannot be grounds for denying the first wife's maintenance claim, the Allahabad High Court ruled on Thursday, citing a Supreme Court decision.

A single bench of Justice Harvir Singh dismissed Mohammad Asif's criminal revision petition against a maintenance order, observing that financial support is essential especially when the wife is living separately and financially dependent on her parents.

The petitioner, Mohammad Asif, had challenged the June 6 order of the Aligarh Family Court, which directed him to pay Rs 20,000 per month as maintenance to Respondent No 2, his first wife.

In his petition, Asif argued that he is a labourer working at a hardware store in Bengaluru and does not earn enough to pay Rs 20,000 per month to his first wife. He claimed the maintenance sum was excessive and beyond his financial means.

Asif's lawyer argued that the Aligarh Family Court, while passing the order, overlooked an income certificate issued by the Revenue Officer on November 9, 2018, which stated the petitioner's annual income was around Rs 83,000. The certificate was valid for five years.

Initially, the Family Court had granted an interim maintenance of Rs 2,000, later increasing it to Rs 20,000, which is not only excessive but also contrary to the facts and evidence on record, the petition noted.

In argument, the respondent's (wife) lawyer informed the court that Asif had remarried another woman, and this fact came to light in the June 6 order. The woman's counsel also shared that the hardware store where Asif works is owned by his father, and the two are taxpayers. The hardware store also has a registered Goods and Services Tax (GST) number.

If the petitioner can maintain his second wife, he cannot ignore the first one, the lawyer argued, adding, the respondent is an unemployed woman with no source of income and is financially dependent on her parents. 

Citing the Supreme Court judgment in the case of Shamima Farooqui v Shahid Khan, the court stated that the responsibility to maintain a legally married wife cannot be extinguished merely based on such considerations. The court concluded that in these circumstances, the petitioner has no valid grounds for his petition and dismissed it.

(With inputs from Deepak Gambhir)