Wife Who Left During COVID Without Later Returning Denied Maintenance: Karnataka High Court

A wife's maintenance claim after she left the matrimonial home during the pandemic to care for ill parents and did not later return

The parties married in 1995 and lived together for more than twenty-five years. In 2021 the wife left when her parents and sister contracted COVID and her father suffered a heart attack. The husband said repeated requests to return failed and that she complained to police when he visited.

Issue and applicable law

The central question was a wife's maintenance claim after she left the matrimonial home during the pandemic to care for ill parents and did not later return.

Maintenance is not automatic: the claimant must prove inability to maintain herself, the husband's means, and his neglect or refusal. Unjustified withdrawal from matrimonial society can disqualify a spouse from support on the facts.

Court's reasoning

The Court held that she failed to establish reasonable cause for continued separate residence or any refusal or neglect by her husband. Its principal reason was that her own police statement showed that the husband asked her to return, while the original departure was connected to her family's illness rather than his misconduct.

Decision and practical effect

The High Court dismissed her revision; the younger daughter's separate ₹8,000 monthly maintenance and educational-expense award remained unaffected.

The ruling is significant because it clarifies how the stated legal standard should be applied to comparable disputes without extending the decision beyond the facts reported by the source.

Case details

• Case: Revision from Mysuru Family Court maintenance proceedings
• Court: Karnataka High Court
• Judges: Justice Chilakur Sumalatha
• Source: https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/karnataka-high-court/karnataka-high-court-wife-left-matrimonial-home-never-came-back-not-entitled-maintenance-548681