This Case Commentary is written by Ishita, Second-year law student of Law Centre-2, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi

(A Case In Which Delhi High Court Granted Maintenance To Wife Despite She’s Earning)

CASE DETAILS:

Court- High court of Delhi

Citation- 2023 SCC Online Del 7652

Bench – V. Kameswar Rao and Anoop Kumar Mendiratta

Decided on – December 4, 2023

PARTIES: -

Appellant: -Nidhi Sudan

Respondent: - Manish Kumar Khanna

INTRODUCTION

This is one of latest judgment of Delhi High Court in which 2 judges bench granted right to maintenance for an earning and a postgraduate wife who is running a successful business as well. Court held that merely if the wife is earning it should not affect her right to maintenance there must be other points to be considered such as standard of living and status of the parties.

BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE:

In brief, the marriage between both the parties was solemnized on September 02, 2000 according to Hindu rites and ceremonies. A girl was born out of the wedlock on December 10, 2010. A petition for dissolution of marriage under Sections 13(1) (ia) & (ib) of Hindu marriage act was applied by the wife on September 13, 2019 claiming that her husband had treated her with cruelty and deserted her, constraining the wife to live separately from December, 2013. Also, an application under Section 24 HMA was filed along with the petition claiming maintenance @ Rs. 75,000/- per month for the wife and her daughter along with litigation expenses. Learned Judge, Family Court denied maintenance pendente lite to the wife holding that she can earn and maintaining herself and as such does not require any financial support. Considering that an amount of Rs. 36,066/- per month is being spent on the child education and other expenses of the minor daughter in custody of the wife, who is a joint liability of both the parties, the husband was directed to pay Rs. 20,000/- per month towards maintenance of the minor child from the date of filing of the application till decision of the case. The appellant wife was also granted litigation expenses of Rs. 11,000/- the wife was not satisfied with the decision of learned judge and hence filed an appeal for the same before Hon’ble High Court challenging the order of family court regarding maintenance.

COURT OBSERVATIONS

The high court disagreed with the Lower Court that the wife could support herself financially on her own and did not need Husband's Assistance, in this context they observed that "before coming to conclusion there must be a consideration of the status of the parties along with the standard of living in the matrimonial home and the income of the respondent, the appellant wife is also entitled to maintenance apart from the minor child".

Court also considered the following points before coming to any conclusion that:

1. The wife was constrained to live in a tenanted premises. The expenses for maintenance of the child are stated to be much higher which she is handling alone from her education to medical expenses and other necessary expenses.

2. Court further observed that maintenance of the child is joint responsibility of both parents, and while determining the amount of maintenance the Court must consider the “status of the parties” to be taken into consideration.

3. The court further observed in terms of Proviso to Section 24 HMA[1], an Application for the grant of interim maintenance should be disposed of within 60 days of service of notice, Admittedly, the interim maintenance to be decided based on averments of the parties, the income and assets affidavit filed by the parties. That all these factors must be considered while determining the amount of maintenance.

In the present case, Husband entered appearance in December, 2019 but the application under Section 24, disposed of only in April 2023 along with the petition. Court viewed that whenever party is processed ex-parte or do not choose to proceed further, decision of Application under section 24 HMA, not to deferred at a later stage. Court further stated that there must be speedy disposal of the cases to ensure that the party claiming maintenance is not suffering due to financial crisis.

Court emphasized that while granting maintenance to wife, it must consider the source of income of wife and whether the same is sufficient to enable her to maintain herself along with a minor child.

Hon'ble High Court stated that though there cannot be a simple and straight formula to determine the amount of maintenance however, it stated that the same should be reasonable and based on multiple factors. Relying on the leading case of Rajnesh v. Neha &Anr., 2020 SCC Online SC 903[2], Hon'ble High Court highlighted that following aspects must be considered while granting maintenance:

• Reasonable needs of the wife and dependent children,

• Whether the applicant is educated and professionally qualified,

• Whether the applicant has any independent source of income,

• Whether the income is sufficient to enable her to maintain the same standard of living as she was accustomed to in her matrimonial home,

• Whether the applicant was employed prior to her marriage,

• Whether she was working during the subsistence of the marriage, etc.

The High Court stressed on the point that "The maintenance has to be realistic, avoiding either of two extremes i.e. neither oppressive or extravagant, nor meagre to drive the applicant wife to penury or mere support. The duration of the marriage as well as the conduct of the parties, which is apparent on the face of the record also needs to be kept in perspective"

HIGHT COURT'S DECISION

High Court after considering all the above factors and after considering the income, assets and life style of the husband, Hon'ble Court observed that the wife is also entitled to enjoy the same amenities of life-style as she would have been entitled to in her matrimonial home.

In the facts and circumstances of the case, the court observed that the appellant wife is also entitled to maintenance @ Rs. 15,000/- per month apart from the maintenance @ Rs. 20,000/- for the minor child as awarded by the learned Trial Court from the date of filing of application till the disposal of the proceedings.

Maintenance pendente lite shall be set off/adjusted against any other amount of maintenance received by the appellant. The respondent shall also be liable to clear the arrears of maintenance within timeline as directed by the learned Judge, Family Court.

CONCLUSION

Court determined various factors while granting maintenance or alimony wife, and the prime factors were the husband's status, Lifestyle, and his income. And in fact, Court also took into consideration whether the wife is educated and capable to earn before coming to any conclusion.

References:

[1] https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/17272 accessed 04 September 2024

[2] https://bundi.dcourts.gov.in/document/supreme-court-of-india-judgement-rajnesh-vs-neha-and-anr/ accessed 03 September 2024