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Rina Kumari @ Rina Devi @ Reena v. Dinesh Kumar Mahto @ Dinesh Kumar Mahato

Criminal Appeal · 2025 INSC 55Decided 10 Jan 2025
Criminal Appeal No. 161 of 2025 (arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 5896 of 2024)
Chief Justice · Justice Sanjay Kumar

Background

Reena and Dinesh married in 2014 and separated in 2015; Dinesh later obtained a decree for "restitution of conjugal rights" (a court order directing a spouse to resume living together) from a Family Court, which Reena did not comply with. Reena had separately obtained an order granting her Rs. 10,000/month maintenance under Section 125 CrPC, but the Jharkhand High Court set that aside, reasoning that her refusal to obey the restitution decree disqualified her from maintenance under Section 125(4) CrPC. Reena appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that a wife's non-compliance with a restitution-of-conjugal-rights decree does not automatically disqualify her from maintenance: the key question is whether she had a valid and sufficient reason to stay away, which must be independently assessed on the evidence, not simply assumed from the civil decree. Reviewing the record, the Court found Reena had suffered a miscarriage without support from her husband, was denied basic facilities like a functioning toilet and cooking gas in the matrimonial home, and that her witnesses on these points were never even cross-examined by Dinesh, all indicating genuine mistreatment amounting to cruelty. The Court also noted Dinesh never took any legal steps to enforce the restitution decree or seek divorce, suggesting he was using the decree merely as a shield against paying maintenance. It restored the Family Court's maintenance order.

Lesson Learnt

A husband cannot defeat his wife's right to maintenance merely by obtaining a court decree for restitution of conjugal rights on paper: the wife's right to maintenance survives unless it is shown, on real evidence, that she had no genuine justification for living apart.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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