The Allahabad High Court directs enhanced maintenance from a husband's salary, while other courts rule on maintenance disputes in differing directions.
The Allahabad High Court recently directed that enhanced maintenance be paid to a woman from her husband's salary, Bar & Bench reported. The case is Pinki Verma And Another v State of UP and Another. The Court referred to a Supreme Court ruling and a verse from the Manusmriti. The source does not state which judge heard the matter.
In Bengaluru, a court held that photographs and social media profiles, including LinkedIn and Facebook, cannot by themselves establish that a woman has sufficient income to maintain herself and her child and so disentitle her from maintenance. The Court emphasised that the possibility of employment was different from actual financial independence, particularly for a woman responsible for raising a minor child.
The Jharkhand High Court held that a husband cannot ordinarily rely on loans taken for "future wealth construction" to reduce his income when maintenance or permanent alimony is determined. It held that voluntary loan repayments, particularly for creating assets, cannot override the obligation to maintain the wife. The matter was heard by a Division Bench that included Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld an award of maintenance under Section 125 CrPC to a woman whose earlier marriage was alleged to be subsisting when she married the petitioner-husband. It held that such an objection, by itself, cannot defeat a claim for maintenance, and dismissed the second husband's criminal revision.
The Delhi High Court held that a Family Court cannot award interim maintenance to a wife by tilting solely towards the husband's income while ignoring other relevant factors. Justice Saurabh Banerjee said that even though the husband is a man of means, the Family Court cannot be oblivious of the cumulative variables.
