Maintenance for estranged wife cannot exceed husband's means, Delhi court says

A Delhi court has said a husband cannot be ordered to pay maintenance beyond his actual or presumed means, even when the amount awarded to his estranged wife does not cover her basic needs.

Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh made the observation while dismissing the woman's appeal against interim maintenance of ₹1,840 a month, awarded under the Domestic Violence Act. The woman argued that the sum was too small to allow her to survive in Delhi.

She claimed that her husband owned a medical store and earned rent from agricultural and commercial properties. The court noted that she produced no documents to support those claims, leaving no evidence to establish his monthly income. The man said he worked as a helper or salesman at a medical store and earned ₹8,000 a month. He also said he had to support himself and the couple's three children.

The woman said she was illiterate and had no independent income. She also told the court that her family had spent more than ₹10 lakh on the marriage and provided household goods and jewellery. She argued that her husband could pay between ₹15,000 and ₹20,000 each month.

The magistrate's court assessed the husband's income using the minimum wage applicable in Uttar Pradesh, where he lived. The relevant wage for an unskilled worker stood at about ₹11,021 a month. It then divided income among family members, applying principles set out by the Delhi High Court in Annurita Vohra v Sandeep Vohra.

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The court has to keep in mind that the appellant could only be awarded maintenance of income which the respondent no 2 (husband) was having or could be presumed to have.