'Husband may steal, beg to maintain wife, child'

A court in India recently ruled that a man may steal, beg or borrow in order to maintain his family.

"The first and foremost duty of the husband is to maintain the wife and the child. He may beg, borrow or steal," reads an order by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh of India on November 9.

The order was given after the court dismissed a plea of a man challenging a family court order jailing him for not paying the maintenance to his wife, reports Live Law, an Indian legal news portal, today.

The family court had sentenced the man to undergo civil imprisonment for 12 months on account of non-payment of arrears of maintenance allowance amounting to Rs 91,000 to his wife, Live Law said in the report.

"Neither the neglected wife nor the neglected child can live without funds for purchasing food and the essential articles to enable them to survive. The first and foremost duty of the husband is to maintain the wife and the child," the court said.