Perera Alias Charles v. Rodrigo – sllr 1994 volume 2 page 332

In the case between Perera alias Charles (applicant/respondent) and Rodrigo (respondent/appellant), the court addressed whether a divorced wife retains the right to claim maintenance for periods during which the marriage subsisted, despite the granting of a decree absolute in divorce proceedings. It was held that the legal duty of a husband to maintain his wife continues until the dissolution of marriage, and a subsequent divorce does not retrospectively affect the Magistrate’s jurisdiction to order maintenance for periods prior to the divorce. The decision reaffirmed the principle that maintenance rights accrue during marriage and cannot be extinguished by subsequent judicial separations or divorce decrees. The holding drew on the Maintenance Ordinance and related judicial precedents, und