K’taka HC rules wife involved in adultery cannot demand maintenance under domestic violence act
Bengaluru: In a recent judgment, the Karnataka High Court ruled that a wife engaged in an adulterous relationship cannot claim maintenance from her husband under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act.
Justice Rajendra Badamikar, presiding over a single-judge bench, delivered the verdict, rejecting the revision petition filed by the wife in an attempt to overturn the Magistrate court's maintenance order.
The case centered around the wife's application under Section 12 of the Act, where she sought financial support, citing her legal marital status. However, compelling evidence presented in court established her extramarital affair with a neighbor. In response, the husband contested her plea, asserting that the wife had abandoned their matrimonial home to live with her paramour, thereby forfeiting her entitlement to maintenance.
Initially, the Magistrate court had granted a protection order under Section 18 of the Act, awarding the wife Rs. 1,500 as maintenance, along with Rs. 1,000 for rent allowance and an additional Rs. 5,000 as compensation. Dissatisfied with this decision, the husband approached the Sessions court, which subsequently set aside the Magistrate's order.
Justice Badamikar, in his detailed judgment, remarked, "The oral and documentary evidence produced clearly establishes that the petitioner is not honest towards her husband and she has extramarital affairs with the neighbor. When the petitioner is engaged in adultery, the question of her claiming maintenance does not arise at all."
The court underlined that the wife's conduct, engaging in an adulterous relationship, invalidated her claim for maintenance despite her legal marriage status. Justice Badamikar emphasized, "The learned Magistrate has failed to appreciate any of these aspects and, in a mechanical way, awarded the maintenance and compensation, which is a perverse order. The learned Sessions judge has re-appreciated the oral and documentary evidence and has rightly rejected the claim of the petitioner in view of the fact that she was leading an adulterous life."
This ruling sets a significant legal precedent, emphasizing the importance of honesty and fidelity in domestic relationships when seeking legal redress under the Domestic Violence Act.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
