Introduction
The Hon’ble High Court of Delhi has recently overturned the decision of Family Court regarding a maintenance under section 125 of Civil Procedure Code, 1908. The High Court through its decision highlighted that maintenance shouldn’t overburden the husband.
Background of the case
The case arose due to a matrimonial disputed between the parties. The wife along with their minor son left the matrimonial house to live separately. Under section 125 of CPC the wife had filed for maintenance from the husband for herself and their minor child. The family court considering the husband’s income as rs.50,000 per month, passed an order, making the husband accountable to pay rs.25,000 every month to the wife.
High Court’s view
The husband argued that the Family Court erred in considering his income as rs.50,000 per month, while in real he received only rs.36,000 per month after all the cut offs on top of which he has to take care of his elderly parents and pay other dues.
The High Court after careful evaluation found that the husband earned only rs.40,000 per month. Therefore to reduce the burden on the husband, the overturned the Family Court’s decision and revised the maintenance amount to rs.17,500 (rs.10,000 for the wife and rs.7,500 for the minor child).
Conclusion
The High Court through its decision has highlighted its stance that maintenance shouldn’t overburden the husband and that the maintenance amount should be reasonable. In this case, it was also brought to the attention of the bench that the wife is an educated and employable person.