Findings of cruelty against wife can't be basis to deny her maintenance: Delhi HC
New Delhi, Jan 22: The Delhi High Court has held that findings of cruelty against a wife in divorce proceedings cannot be the basis to deny her maintenance by husband under the Domestic Violence Act.
The high court's observation came while dealing with a plea by a woman challenging a sessions court's order which had set aside a magisterial court's order directing her 65-year-old estranged husband to pay her Rs 1 lakh monthly maintenance. The sessions court had remanded it back to the magisterial court for adjudication.
" in my considered view, the findings of cruelty against the wife in the divorce proceedings, by itself cannot be the basis to deny maintenance to the wife under the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act," Justice Amit Bansal said.
The high court placed reliance on several judgments passed by the Supreme Court in which it was observed that even if there is a finding of cruelty against the wife, it cannot by itself be a ground for denying maintenance and that there is no bar of cruelty in the right of the wife to claim maintenance.
It was also held by the apex court in one of the judgments that even if divorce has been granted on the grounds of desertion by the wife, this cannot be a ground to deny maintenance to her.
The high court was dealing with a submission of the husband in which he relied on the findings in the judgement of divorce granted in his favour by the family court on grounds of cruelty and desertion by the wife.
The high court set aside the sessions court's order saying that instead of adjudicating and returning a finding on several issues, the appellate court simply remanded the matter back to the trial court without giving any reasons or justification.
"The order of remand is completely cryptic and without giving any reasons justifying the remand," it said.
On the sessions court's finding that the son had already attained the age of majority and thus, no relief could be granted to him, the high court said that the sessions court failed to take into account that the trial court had granted maintenance from 2009 to 2016 and for a large part of this period, the son of the parties, even though he had attained the age of majority, was still pursuing his studies.
"The obligation of a father towards his child does not end when the child attains majority even though he is still pursuing his studies," it said.
"It is unfortunate that in the present case, the complaint was filed in the year 2009 and almost 14 years have elapsed and the wife has not been granted any interim maintenance other than the sum of Rs 10 lakh paid by the husband pursuant to the order passed by this court. Accordingly, even though I am remanding the matter to the appellate court to decide the appeal on merits, it is deemed appropriate that an amount of interim maintenance is fixed by this Court pending the adjudication of the appeal on merits," Justice Bansal said.
The high court asked the man to pay Rs 50,000 per month to the wife as interim maintenance from December 16, 2009 when the complaint under the DV Act was filed till November 1, 2019 when the order was passed by the sessions court.
The sum of Rs 10 lakh already paid by the man to the woman shall be deducted from the amount, it said.
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India achieves major milestone in wind energy; capacity now 56 gigawatts: PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): India has achieved a major milestone in wind energy, with the country's wind energy generation capacity exceeding 56 gigawatts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.
In his monthly radio address 'Mann Ki Baat', Modi also said the country must save electricity and adopt clean energy.
“India recently achieved a major milestone in wind energy. India's wind energy generation capacity has now exceeded 56 gigawatts. In just the past year, nearly 6 gigawatts of new capacity have been added,” he said.
Underlining that solar and wind energy are essential for India's development, Modi said, “It is not just about the environment; it is about securing our future, and we all have a role to play in it.”
On April 22, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Pralhad Joshi, said that India has recorded its best-ever year in wind energy capacity addition, with a historic 6.1 GW added during 2025-26.
India currently ranks fourth globally in wind energy, with more than 56.1 GW installed capacity and an additional 28 GW under implementation.
Emphasising the vast untapped potential of the sector, Joshi highlighted that India's wind energy potential at 150 metres hub height is estimated at nearly 1,164 GW.
He expressed confidence that with sustained efforts, the country will achieve 100 GW wind capacity by 2030 and 156 GW by 2036, contributing significantly to the net-zero target by 2070.
Joshi also underlined that wind energy plays a critical role in stabilising India's energy system, particularly due to its peak generation during evening and night hours, which aligns with high demand periods.
He noted that nearly 45 per cent of wind power generation occurs during peak demand hours, making it a vital complement to solar energy.
