The Allahabad High Court has said that a husband cannot avoid paying maintenance to his wife and children just because he has already gone to jail for not paying it.

The bench hedaed by Justice Praveen Kumar Giri clarified that sending someone to civil prison for non-payment does not clear the pending amount. The responsibility to pay maintenance continues even after serving the jail term.

The Court also said that the rule of “double jeopardy” — which means a person cannot be punished twice for the same offence — does not apply in maintenance cases under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

The case was filed by Hasina Khatoon, who challenged a Moradabad court order from January 2023. The lower court had refused to recover the pending maintenance from her husband, saying he had already served jail time for not paying it.

According to the case, in July 2019, a magistrate had ordered the husband to pay ₹4,000 per month each to his wife and their disabled son. However, he did not pay, and the dues reached ₹2.64 lakh.

A recovery warrant was then issued, and he was arrested in October 2022. He was sent to civil prison for 30 days after refusing to pay.

Even after coming out of jail, he did not clear the amount. When the wife again asked the court to recover the money, her request was rejected.

The High Court set aside this order and said that going to jail does not end the duty to pay maintenance.

It directed the trial court to recover the pending amount along with 6% interest. The Court also said that if the husband still does not pay, his property can be attached to recover the money.