Undue Sympathy For Husband In Granting Maintenance Neither In Interest Of Wife & Children Nor In Interest Of Justice: MP High Court

A bench of Justice Gurpal Singh Ahluwalia observed thus while enhancing the interim maintenance amount granted by a Gwalior Family Court to a wife and child. The Single Judge enhanced the maintenance for the wife from Rs. 2,000 per month to Rs. 10,000; for the child, it was raised from Rs. 1,000 per month to Rs. 5,000.

Hearing a revision petition filed by the wife and child under Section 397, 401 of the CrPC, read with Section 19(4) of the Family Courts Act, the court found that the amount initially awarded by the Family Court was shockingly on the lower side, given the respondent's salary.

The Court added that the Trial Court must remember that the wife and child/children are entitled to enjoy the same status that they would otherwise have enjoyed in their matrimonial/parental home.

In this case, the Family Court had initially granted interim maintenance of Rs. 2,000 per month to the wife (Applicant No. 1) and Rs. 1,000 per month to the child (Applicant No. 2).

The applicants argued that the husband/father's gross salary is Rs. 68,228/—, and his statutory deductions are Rs.14,278/-; thus, his take-home income is Rs.53,950/-.

It was argued that the loan the respondent had already received in advance could not be deducted from his take-home salary.

Additionally, the husband's claim that the loan was taken for marriage expenses was also refuted on the grounds that the salary slip of the husband/father clearly shows that the loan was taken in February 2022, while the marriage took place in May 2019.

Against the backdrop of these submissions, the Court noted that since the loan amount is nothing but receipt of money in advance, it is not only a voluntary deduction; the respondent has already received the amount in advance.

The Court further observed that only statutory deductions can be considered when calculating the take-home salary, and the husband's voluntary loan must be ignored.

Therefore, the Court said that it is clear that in February 2024, the take-home salary of the Husband/father was Rs.53,950/-. Under these circumstances, the Court concluded that the interim maintenance of Rs.2,000/—awarded to the wife and Rs.1,000/—awarded to the child was shockingly low.

In view of this, the Court enhanced the maintenance amount and allowed the petition.