Allahabad HC: Hindu Marriage Cannot Be Dissolved by Unilateral Declaration on Stamp Paper, Upholds Wife's Maintenance

The Allahabad High Court has held that a marriage between two Hindus can be dissolved only through the modes recognised under the Hindu Marriage Act, and not by a unilateral declaration executed on a stamp paper.

A Single Judge Bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi was hearing a criminal revision filed by a husband challenging a family court order directing him to pay ₹2,200 per month as maintenance to his wife under Section 125 CrPC. The husband contended that the parties had divorced by mutual consent as per local custom fourteen years before the maintenance application, and produced an alleged divorce agreement drawn up unilaterally by the wife on a ₹10 stamp paper, attested by witnesses.

Rejecting this, the Court held that the marriage "was not dissolved in accordance with law" and that the wife remained legally wedded to the husband. It further observed that the husband's subsequent marriage to another woman, with whom he had three children, while his first marriage subsisted, gave the wife "reasonable cause" to live separately.

On the fourteen-year delay in seeking maintenance, the Court noted that Section 125 CrPC prescribes no limitation period, and that the wife's pursuit of the claim had been disrupted by personal tragedy following her brother's death.

The revision was accordingly dismissed and the family court's maintenance order upheld.

Case: Vinod Kumar @ Sant Ram v. Smt. Shiv Rani