Kerala HC: Wife Who Abandons Husband Without Reason Not Entitled to Past Maintenance

• The Kerala High Court ruled that a wife who abandons her husband without valid reason is not entitled to past maintenance.
• A Division Bench of Justices Satish Ninan and P. Krishna Kumar quashed a Family Court order directing the husband to pay past maintenance.
• The Family Court had previously granted divorce on the grounds of the wife's abandonment, yet ordered past maintenance.
• The High Court clarified that 'abandonment' under the Divorce Act, 1869, implies desertion without proper and valid reason.
• The ruling emphasizes that interpreting abandonment without reason aligns with constitutional principles of equality and dignity.

Why It Matters: Wives who abandon their husbands without valid reason are not entitled to past maintenance, as per Kerala High Court.