New Delhi, Nov. 14 -- The Supreme Court has cautioned courts against using bail proceedings to impose conditions requiring a husband to pay maintenance to his wife, underscoring that such matters must be pursued through the appropriate legal forum.

Setting aside the cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to four members of a family in a matrimonial cruelty and dowry harassment case, a bench of justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S Chandurkar said courts must not turn the process of granting pre-arrest protection into a mechanism for securing maintenance.

"A process of bail or anticipatory bail cannot be converted into a forum for grant of maintenance," emphasised the bench in a recent order, which reinforces the distinction between condit...