Outlook Business Desk
Delhi High Court asked a man to pay 80% of his claimed income to his wife as interim maintenance during divorce proceedings.
The man claimed to earn Rs 15,000 per month. Court asked him to pay Rs 7,500 to his wife and Rs 4,500 to their child each month as interim maintenance by 10th of every month.
The husband is, a lawyer while the wife was a Delhi government school. Together, they have a child. She left her husband in July 2017 after 18 months of marriage and also left her job in 2022.
The woman argues that the man earns far more than he claimed and accuses him of hiding his actual earnings from the court. The husband alleged she was earning close to Rs 45,000 before voluntarily quitting.
The court cited a Supreme Court view that an employed wife can still seek maintenance if her salary doesn’t cover living needs.
The HC said a wife deserves to live in dignity, not just survive and must get fair financial support during the trial.
The Rs 12,000 monthly payment is interim. Final amount will be fixed after verifying income tax records and bank statements.
The final maintenance amount will be decided later based on more evidence as reported by The Economic Times.