Living In Adultery - Not A Bar To Seek Maintenance ?

Man, whether in the role of a son, a father or a husband, has a socially embedded duty to provide for the well-being – physical as well as financial - of his elderly parents, children and wife. … The Orissa High Court has also held that there must be clear proof of adultery and a suspicion nurtured by the husband will not disentitle the wife to receive the maintenance under the Code" 12 Reference is made of the decision of the Madras High Court of Kasturi v. Ramaswamy, reported in 1979 Cr.LJ 741, wherein it is held and observed that "living in adultery" means outright adulterous conduct on the part of the wife and stray act of illicit relationship will not amount to "living in adultery"." THE EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE WIFE'S LIVING IN ADULTERY / ADULTEROUS ACTIONS, WHETHER RELEVANT FOR ADJUDICATING HER PETITION FOR MAINTENANCE IN LIGHT OF SECTION 125 OF THE CODE? In this regard, it is important to emphasize on another portion of Section 125 of the Code, which states as under: "No wife should be entitled to receive an allowance for the maintenance or the interim maintenance and expenses of proceedings, as the case may be, from her husband under this section if she is living in adultery, or if, without any sufficient reason, she refuses to live with her husband, or if they are living separately by mutual consent." Emphasis Supplied The words "without any sufficient reason" in the above-mentioned provision open the door for scrutiny and debate on which circumstances constitute sufficient reasons for justifying, or at least condoning, the wife's refusal to live with her husband as his wife, irrespective of whether they are staying under the same roof or not, for the purpose of granting her maintenance under Section 125 of the Code.