#domestic separation

The Chhattisgarh High Court has ruled that a wife’s separation from her husband, even if unilaterally initiated and without proven cruelty or misconduct, does not extinguish her statutory right to interim maintenance under BNSS Section 144. This reinforces that economic vulnerability and lack of independent income, not marital fault, are the decisive factors in granting maintenance - a critical safeguard for financially dependent spouses in pending proceedings.