Whether application for maintenance filed by wife is maintainable even though she had not file any such application during pendency of litigation?

In 1997 a petition for divorce was filed and the divorce was granted in 2000. During this period from 1987 to 2000 when the wife was living separately from her husband she did not file any petition for grant of maintenance. Even during the divorce proceedings though an application Under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 was filed but it seems that the same was either dismissed for non-prosecution or was not pressed. It was not decided on merits in any event.

10. After the divorce was granted, according to the Appellant he got remarried after a year and it was only thereafter that the wife filed a petition for grant of maintenance. That, according to us, will make no difference because it is for the wife to decide when she wants to file a petition for maintenance. She may have felt comfortable with whatever earnings she had upto that time or may be she did not want to precipitate matters till she was contesting the divorce petition by filing a claim for maintenance. Whatever be the reason, the mere fact that the wife did not file a petition for grant of maintenance during the pendency of the matrimonial proceedings, is no ground to hold that she is not entitled to file such a petition later on.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

Criminal Appeal Nos. 232-233 of 2015

Decided On: 19.09.2019

 Swapan Kumar Banerjee  Vs.  The State of West Bengal 

Hon'ble Judges/Coram:

Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, JJ.

Citation: AIR 2019 SC 4748.

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