Court decides on plea for alimony in 21 yrs, rues delay

Ruing the snail's pace of work in the judiciary, a Delhi court has rejected a 21-year-old plea by a woman for alimony from her husband, who was already married and his first was wife still alive.

Ruing the snail's pace of work in the judiciary, a Delhi court has rejected a 21-year-old plea by a woman for alimony from her husband, who was already married and his first was wife still alive.

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The court's order came on the plea by a Chirag Delhi resident woman, married in 1987 to an erstwhile Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking employee.

In her plea, the woman said she came to know of the man's first marriage two years later after the birth of her daughter in 1989. Since then she had been living separately from him as he had also begun to torture her for bringing insufficient dowry.

“...she cannot be considered as legally wedded wife for the purpose of granting maintenance to her as she does not fall within the definition of "wife" as envisaged in section 125 CrPC. Therefore, she is not entitled to any maintenance in the present case," the court said.

However, Metropolitan Magistrate Priya Mahendra asked the man to pay Rs 1,000 as maintenance to the daughter, born to his second wife.