In Brief
A woman married to two men in succession, while her first marriage remained technically subsisting, claimed maintenance from her second husband. The High Court denied her claim, holding that without a legal divorce decree from her first marriage, she could not be considered the legal wife of the second husband. The Supreme Court allowed her appeal, holding that maintenance under Section 125 CrPC should be expansively interpreted to achieve social justice. Where the second husband had knowledge of the first marriage, the woman is de facto separated from her first husband with no ongoing benefits from it, the Court will grant maintenance to prevent destitution and enforce the husband's legal duty to support his spouse.
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