Legal notice by husband isn’t enough to enforce conjugal rights decree: Karnataka high court

Bengaluru: Mere issuance of a legal notice by a husband does not amount to compliance with or enforcement of a decree for restitution of conjugal rights.

The high court made this observation in a recent judgment while dismissing the petition filed by a man from Bantwal taluk, Dakshina Kannada district.

The couple got married in Jan 2017. However, the wife filed a petition seeking divorce, alleging cruelty. The husband filed a counterclaim, seeking restitution of conjugal rights. The wife filed an application seeking interim maintenance, and the family court at Mangaluru awarded Rs 15,000 per month on Sept 15, 2020. Later, the application filed by the husband was favoured, and the petition filed by the wife seeking divorce was dismissed. The husband was told to pay Rs 15,000 interim maintenance till he takes back his wife.

In the meantime, the wife moved the family court seeking execution of the order directing the husband to pay interim maintenance. On Nov 21, 2024, a decree was passed in her favour. He challenged the same before the high court, claiming that the wife failed to join him in terms of the order passed by the family court and that he had issued a legal notice to her in this regard. He further claimed he paid Rs 6 lakh as arrears of maintenance.

However, after perusing the materials on record, Justice K Manmadha Rao noted that the husband failed to submit any acknowledgement for having paid Rs 6 lakh. The judge pointed out that the wife stated she received Rs 4.5 lakh only and that the husband did not pay for the period from Nov 2019 to Feb 2022 and also failed to take steps in pursuance of the restitution of conjugal rights.

“The obligation is clear and continues until cohabitation is resumed, the husband is required to pay maintenance. The contention of the petitioner that the respondent refused to join matrimonial life cannot, by itself, absolve him of the liability under the decree. If the petitioner was genuinely interested in enforcing restitution of conjugal rights, it was incumbent upon him to initiate appropriate execution proceedings for enforcement of that decree. Mere issuance of a legal notice does not amount to compliance with or enforcement of a decree for restitution of conjugal rights,” Justice Rao observed. The husband has been told to clear the arrears of maintenance payable to the wife.