Maintenance claim under Section 125 CrPC is barred where a wife resides separately without sufficient cause.

The applicant (wife) and respondent (husband) married in 2015.

The applicant alleged she was harassed for dowry, oustered from the matrimonial home in 2016, and left destitute following her father's death in 2021.

She filed an application for maintenance under Section 125 CrPC in 2022.

The respondent subsequently obtained a divorce decree in 2025 on grounds of cruelty and desertion.

The Family Court, Durg, dismissed her maintenance application on January 13, 2026, finding she lived separately without sufficient cause and was professionally qualified.

The applicant challenged this dismissal via the present criminal revision.

1. Whether the learned Family Court erred in law by denying maintenance to the applicant based on the grounds of living separately without sufficient cause.

2. Whether the applicant’s professional qualifications and the existence of a prior divorce decree based on her cruelty/desertion disentitle her to maintenance under Section 125 CrPC.

The court primarily applied Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Specifically, it relied on Section 125(4) CrPC, which mandates that no wife shall be entitled to receive an allowance from her husband if, without any sufficient reason, she refuses to live with her husband.

The court also considered the principle that a wife's educational and professional status (Post Graduation in Pharmacy) is a relevant factor in determining her capability to maintain herself.

The High Court examined the Family Court’s findings, which were predicated on the applicant's own admissions during cross-examination and the lack of any dowry harassment complaints prior to the litigation.

The court noted that the respondent's family had made efforts for reconciliation which the applicant rejected, thereby failing the "sufficient cause" test for separate residence required under Section 125(4).

Furthermore, the court observed that the divorce had already been granted in favor of the husband on grounds of desertion and cruelty.

The High Court reasoned that since the applicant is a well-educated, professionally qualified Post Graduate in Pharmacy, she is capable of earning her livelihood.

Consequently, the court found no jurisdictional error or illegality in the lower court's determination that the applicant was not entitled to maintenance.

The Court held that a wife residing separately without justifiable cause and possessing the capability to maintain herself is barred from relief under Section 125 CrPC.

The criminal revision was dismissed for being devoid of merit.

The Registrar (Judicial) was directed to transmit the records to the concerned Family Court within one week.