Whether wife can give up her right to claim money,ornaments or future maintenance in divorce proceeding

Whether wife can give up her right to claim money,ornaments or future maintenance in divorce proceeding?

 Regarding the contention that parties have voluntarily

agreed to relinquish the various benefits and claims, I am unable to

agree.         The joint application for divorce contains a unilateral

undertaking by the wife that she will not claim money, ornaments or

future maintenance.        There is nothing to show that this was in

consideration for a mutually satisfactory settlement of all the

existing claims. In such circumstances, it can only be treated as

consent obtained from the wife either by coercion or obtained by

compulsion of circumstances or as a condition imposed on a

desperate wife by the husband for consenting to a divorce.          Of

course, parties are free to enter into a satisfactory settlement of all

their claims, on mutually agreed terms. However, contracting out

of the statutory rights conferred on the wife under section 19 to 22

of D.V Act is against public policy and hence cannot be recognized,

unless it is proved that there was a mutually satisfactory settlement

of all claims. This view is fortified by the settled legal position

under section 3 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence

Act, 2005 and under section 125 of Code of Criminal Procedure 

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

                            PRESENT:

            MR. JUSTICE SUNIL THOMAS

    13TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2016

                   Crl.MC.No. 2990 of 2016

           BIPIN, V  MEERA D.S.,
          Citation: 2017 CRL1171 Kerala