Overview

• Upholding a Malappuram Family Court decision, the High Court dismissed a second wife's plea for monthly maintenance from her blind husband who survives by begging.
• The court said it cannot order a person who begs to pay maintenance, while stressing the government's duty to ensure food and clothing for destitute spouses.
• It held that multiple marriages under Muslim personal law are permissible only if a husband can deliver equal justice and maintenance to each wife, citing Quranic verses.
• The order requires the Social Welfare Department to counsel the respondent with the help of competent counsellors, including religious leaders, to discourage another marriage.
• The court said it cannot recognise successive marriages when a husband lacks the means to maintain his wives and directed the order to be sent to the Social Welfare Secretary for action.