In a significant legal ruling, the Allahabad High Court stated that a wife who relinquishes all rights, including alimony, at the time of a mutual consent divorce, is not entitled to claim maintenance from her former husband at a later date. The court overturned the order of the family court in Gautam Budh Nagar, which had directed the husband to pay a monthly maintenance of INR 25,000 to the wife.
The revision petition filed by the husband against the maintenance order was accepted by the court, while the wife’s petition for an increase in the maintenance was dismissed. Justice Vipin Chandra Dixit passed the order on the revision petitions filed by Gaurav Mehta (the husband) and Anamika Chopra (the wife), clarifying that since the wife had waived all future rights against her husband at the time of divorce, she is not entitled to interim maintenance.
The case stems from a marriage that took place on 27th February 2004, which resulted in the birth of a son named Abhimanyu. Due to disputes, the couple filed for a mutual consent divorce in the Tis Hazari Court, New Delhi, on 16th June 2006. The wife explicitly stated she would not seek maintenance from the husband in the future. The arrangement was for the son to stay with the mother until he reached adulthood, with the father granted regular visitation rights.
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The divorce was finalized on 20th August 2007, and since then, the couple has been living separately. The wife later filed an application under section 125 on behalf of their son in the family court of Gautam Budh Nagar, resulting in an order for the husband to pay INR 15,000 per month for the son’s maintenance.
