Kerala High Court Clarifies: Hindu Wife Can Claim Maintenance From Husband’s Sold Property

The Kerala High Court has clearly held that a Hindu wife can claim maintenance from her husband’s immovable property even if the property has already been sold. However, this right applies only in specific situations laid down by law.

A Full Bench of the High Court gave this ruling while resolving confusion created by earlier, conflicting judgments. The key issue before the Court was whether a wife’s right to maintenance under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 can be enforced against property that the husband has transferred to someone else.

The Court explained that a Hindu wife’s right to maintenance is not limited only to her husband personally. It can also extend to his property. However, this right does not automatically bind every purchaser of the husband’s property.

The judges clarified that a wife’s right to maintenance remains in a “dormant” stage until she takes legal steps to claim it. During this dormant phase, a buyer of the husband’s property cannot be presumed to know about the wife’s maintenance claim.

At the same time, the Court laid down important exceptions. If the wife had already started legal proceedings for maintenance before the property was sold, or if the buyer knew that the husband had denied maintenance to his wife, then the wife can enforce her maintenance claim against that property. The same applies if the transfer was made without proper payment (a gratuitous transfer).

The Court further held that if the property is transferred after the wife files a maintenance case, or after the husband’s death when the wife is deprived of maintenance, the buyer will be deemed to have notice of her right. In such cases, the wife’s claim will prevail over the transfer.

While interpreting the law, the Bench strongly emphasised that denying a deserted wife any remedy against her husband’s property would amount to grave injustice. Even though the 1956 Act does not expressly mention property rights, the Court ruled that the wife’s right to maintenance under Section 18 extends to the husband’s estate as well.

The Full Bench also disagreed with earlier rulings that restricted a wife’s maintenance claim only to her husband and not his property, stating that such an interpretation is legally incorrect and unfair to abandoned wives.

This ruling settles the law in Kerala and provides much-needed clarity and protection to Hindu wives seeking maintenance.