In a significant ruling while hearing a petition seeking maintenance, the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday stated that a wife's maintenance amount can be up to 25 per cent of the husband's income. The court dismissed the husband's petition, upholding the increase in the maintenance allowance awarded to the wife by the Family Court. The court remarked that the petitioner husband has a sacred and legal duty to provide for his wife, who is unable to support herself.
The court stated that the petitioner husband has not claimed any physical disability, and therefore, the court holds that the petitioner/husband is a healthy individual and cannot shrug away his obligation to provide for his wife. Justice Madan Pal Singh issued the order while dismissing petitioner Suresh Chandra's criminal revision petition.
What's The Case
In December 2024, Suresh Chandra filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court, seeking to quash the judgment and order passed by the Additional Principal Judge, Family Court, Shahjahanpur, under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on July 26, 2024. The trial court had increased the allowance payable by Chandra to his wife, from Rs 500 per month to Rs 3,000 per month, effective from the date of the order.
Chandra challenged this order of the Family Court in the Allahabad High Court. His lawyer informed the High Court that on September 9, 2003, the trial court had granted the wife's application under Section 125 of the CrPC, directing the husband (Chandra) to pay the petitioner a monthly maintenance allowance of Rs 500. Subsequently, on June 6, 2015, the wife filed an application under Section 127 of the CrPC in the Family Court, which was granted, and the trial court increased the maintenance amount to Rs 3,000 per month in her favour.
Chandra's lawyer argued that the petitioner is a labourer and barely earns a living. It was also pointed out that the trial court had increased the maintenance amount for the second respondent, his wife, for the sixth time, which was excessive. The trial court had not considered all these important factors when increasing the maintenance allowance under Section 127 of the CrPC.
On the other hand, the Senior Additional Government Advocate (AGA) representing the state government argued that, given current inflation, the increased maintenance amount of Rs 3,000 per month could not be considered excessive or beyond his means.
What Court Said
The court stated that it is the petitioner's sacred and legal duty to maintain his wife, who is unable to support herself.
The court also noted that there is nothing on record to suggest that respondent number two, Chandra's wife, has any source of income. Therefore, it can be presumed that she cannot maintain herself.
Citing several Supreme Court judgments in its decision, the court stated that, considering the facts and circumstances of the case, if the petitioner is considered a labourer, he can earn Rs 600 per day, which amounts to Rs 18,000 per month. The Supreme Court stated that a subsistence allowance of up to 25 per cent of the husband's total income, which amounts to Rs 4,500, can be awarded.
The Allahabad High Court upheld the trial court's order and maintained that the increased maintenance allowance of Rs 3,000 per month cannot be considered excessive, as it is already meagre. Chandra's petition was dismissed.
