Matrimonial & Family Law Precedents Digest
Landmark Supreme Court rulings on Section 125 CrPC & Rajnesh v. Neha maintenance guidelines, Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, Article 142 divorce, child custody, and Section 498A cruelty litigation.
Neha Malhotra v. Vikram Malhotra
Maintenance in high-net-worth matrimonial disputes must reflect lifestyle and status of spouse.
Aditi alias Mithi v. Jitesh Sharma
Clarifying maintenance effective date from application date and child maintenance quantum.
Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan
Direct dissolution of marriage on 'Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage' under Article 142.
Kiran Tomar v. State of U.P.
Husband claiming financial distress must produce audited accounts and income tax returns.
Prabha Tyagi v. Kamlesh Devi
DV Act confers right of residence even if wife never lived together with in-laws in that specific house.
Amit Kumar v. Suman Beniwal
Guidelines for Family Courts when considering waiver of cooling-off period.
Rajnesh v. Neha
Mandatory comprehensive Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities Affidavits nationwide.
Rani Narasimha Sastry v. Rani Suneela Rani
Acquittal in false 498A criminal complaint constitutes conclusive proof of cruelty for divorce.
Satish Chander Ahuja v. Sneha Ahuja
Shared Household under DV Act includes property belonging to or rented by in-laws.
Yashita Sahu v. State of Rajasthan
Child entitled to love and affection of both parents; liberal physical and video visitation mandatory.
Kamlesh Devi v. Jaipal
Vague and generalized allegations without specific domestic violence incident cannot sustain DV petition.
Lahari Sakhamuri v. Sobhan Kodali
Best interest of child in international custody and cross-border repatriation disputes.
Shailja v. Khobbanna
'Capable of earning' is entirely distinct from 'actually earning' in maintenance assessment.
Shalu Ojha v. Prashant Ojha
Appellate court hearing a husband's appeal against a Domestic Violence Act order has the power to dismiss the appeal for willful non-deposit of interim maintenance.
Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur
6-Month statutory cooling-off period under Section 13B(2) is directory and waivable.
Kalyan Dey Chowdhury v. Rita Dey Chowdhury
Benchmark guideline of 25% of husband's net take-home salary as maintenance.
Manish Jain v. Akanksha Jain
Ruling that a wife's educational degrees or potential earning capacity cannot be used by the husband to deny interim maintenance; wife is entitled to the same standard of living as in the matrimonial home.
Vivek Singh v. Romani Singh
Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) recognized as psychological abuse of the child.
Bhuwan Mohan Singh v. Meena
Supreme Court held that Section 125 CrPC maintenance is meant to sustain the wife in dignity and cannot be delayed by dilatory tactics; arrears must be awarded from date of application.
Roxann Sharma v. Arun Sharma
Custody of minor child below 5 years should ordinarily remain with the mother.
Badshah v. Urmila Badshah Godse
Woman deceived into second marriage by man concealing first marriage is entitled to maintenance.
K. Srinivas v. K. Sunita
Supreme Court held that lodging a false criminal complaint under Section 498A IPC resulting in the arrest of the spouse and in-laws constitutes mental cruelty per se for granting divorce.
Sunita Kachwaha v. Anil Kachwaha
Wife's educational qualification or earning capacity alone is no ground to reject maintenance.
Indra Sarma v. V.K.V. Sarma
Authoritative 8-factor test defining when a live-in relationship constitutes a 'relationship in the nature of marriage'; excluding adulterous concubinage from PWDVA benefits.
Jitendra Raghuvanshi v. Babita Raghuvanshi
Inherent powers of High Courts under Section 482 CrPC are not fettered by Section 320 CrPC to quash non-compoundable Section 498A proceedings after amicable settlement.
K. Srinivas Rao v. D.A. Deepa
Filing false, defamatory, and scandalous criminal complaints (498A) amounts to mental cruelty.
Chanmuniya v. Virendra Kumar Singh Kushwaha
Landmark ruling extending Section 125 CrPC maintenance protection to women in live-in relationships where partners cohabited for a long period, raising strong presumption of marriage.
D. Velusamy v. D. Patchaiammal
Laying down four mandatory requirements for a live-in relationship to qualify for maintenance under Section 125 CrPC and PWDVA; distinguishing casual domestic partners from common-law spouses.
Shabana Bano v. Imran Khan
Supreme Court reaffirmed that a divorced Muslim woman is entitled to claim maintenance under Section 125 CrPC even after the expiry of the iddat period, so long as she does not remarry.
Gaurav Nagpal v. Sumedha Nagpal
Welfare of the minor child is the supreme and paramount consideration in custody matters.
Chaturbhuj v. Sita Bai
Object of maintenance under Section 125 is to prevent vagrancy and destitution.
Samar Ghosh v. Jaya Ghosh
20 Exhaustive guidelines defining Mental Cruelty in matrimonial disputes.
Naveen Kohli v. Neelu Kohli
Long continuous separation where marriage is dead emotionally constitutes mental cruelty.
Seema v. Ashwani Kumar
Supreme Court directs compulsory registration of all marriages in India across all religions to protect women from bigamy, denial of maintenance, and abandonment.
B.P. Achala Anand v. S. Appi Reddy
The Supreme Court delivered a pioneering judgment protecting the shelter rights of deserted wives in the matrimonial home. The Court held that a deserted wife residing in tenanted premise...
K.A. Abdul Jaleel v. T.A. Shahida
Family Court has exclusive jurisdiction under Section 7(1) Explanation (c) over property disputes between former spouses even after a decree of divorce.
Sharda v. Dharmpal
3-Judge Bench held that matrimonial courts possess power under Section 151 CPC to direct a party to undergo medical examination, and this does not violate Article 21 personal liberty.
G.V.N. Kameswara Rao v. G. Jabilli
Persistent threats to commit suicide and filing false criminal complaints against spouse and in-laws amount to grave mental cruelty justifying dissolution of marriage.
Praveen Mehta v. Inderjit Mehta
The Supreme Court delivered an authoritative judgment on the evolving jurisprudence of 'mental cruelty' as a ground for divorce under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. T...
Rohtash Singh v. Ramendri
Supreme Court held that a divorced wife is entitled to maintenance under Section 125 CrPC; the bar under Section 125(4) against a wife refusing to live with her husband does not apply after divorce.
Githa Hariharan v. Reserve Bank of India
Purposive interpretation of Section 6(a) HMGA holding 'after him' means 'in the absence of' the father; affirming mother's equal right as natural guardian.
Dhanwanti Joshi v. Madhav Unde
The Supreme Court delivered an enduring landmark precedent on child custody under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 and the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956. Authoritatively spea...
Neerja Saraph v. Jayant V. Saraph
In a pathbreaking human rights and matrimonial judgment authored by Justice R.M. Sahai, the Supreme Court addressed the widespread exploitation of Indian women by Non-Resident Indian (NRI...
S.P.S. Balasubramanyam v. Suruttayan
Continuous cohabitation between a man and woman raises a strong legal presumption of a valid marriage under Section 114 Evidence Act (now Section 119 BSA).
V. Bhagat v. D. Bhagat
Mental cruelty defined; reckless and unfounded allegations of adultery or mental insanity in written statements constitute severe mental cruelty justifying divorce.
Sureshta Devi v. Om Prakash
Unilateral right of either spouse to withdraw consent in mutual divorce before Second Motion.
Vimla (Smt) v. Veeraswamy (K.S.)
The Supreme Court delivered an influential social justice ruling on maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The Court held that Section 125 is a beneficial ...
Pratibha Rani v. Suraj Kumar
Stridhan is absolute property of woman; in-laws hold it only in fiduciary trust.
Saroj Rani v. Sudarshan Kumar Chadha
Upholding constitutionality of Restitution of Conjugal Rights (Section 9 HMA).
Ramesh Chander Kaushal v. Veena Kaushal
Justice Krishna Iyer holds that Section 125 CrPC (now Section 144 BNSS) maintenance is a constitutional measure of social justice designed to prevent destitution and vagrancy.
Dastane v. Dastane
Locus classicus on matrimonial cruelty; establishing proof on preponderance of probabilities, the 5-step cruelty test, and sexual cohabitation as condonation.
Rosy Jacob v. Jacob A. Chakramakkal
In a foundational child custody decision, a 3-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court established that custody orders are interlocutory in nature and never achieve absolute finality. The Court h...
Bipin Chander Jaisinghbhai Shah v. Prabhawati
The foundational test for Desertion under Indian matrimonial law requiring proof of both factum deserdendi (physical separation) and animus deserendi (intention to abandon).
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