Summary
In cross-appeals on interim maintenance pending a divorce petition under the Indian Divorce Act, 1869, the Supreme Court held that the High Court erred in cutting the wife's maintenance from Rs.1,75,000 to Rs.80,000 a month by looking at only two of the husband's income sources, and restored the Family Court's award.
Issues
- Whether the High Court was justified in reducing the interim maintenance fixed by the Family Court from Rs.1,75,000 to Rs.80,000 per month.
- What material on the husband's income and the parties' standard of living is relevant in fixing maintenance pending the divorce proceedings.
Held
- The High Court went wrong in assessing the husband's income from only his salary as a cardiologist and half the rent from one property. It did not deal with the Family Court's findings that he owned several valuable properties, was the sole legal heir of his father, was drawing the income from properties owned by his mother, and held a school whose claimed losses he did not prove. (¶¶ 7, 11)
- The Family Court had noted that the husband did not produce his income tax returns and that the couple had kept two maids round the clock while living together; it was entitled to compare the status, standard of living, income, properties and liabilities of the parties in fixing interim maintenance. (¶¶ 7, 8)
- A wife who gave up her employment after marriage and was used to a particular standard of living in the matrimonial home is entitled, while the divorce petition is pending, to the same amenities of life she would have enjoyed there. (¶ 11)
Result
Wife's appeal allowed and husband's appeal dismissed; the High Court's order dated 01.12.2022 set aside and the Family Court's order dated 14.06.2022 restored, with the husband directed to pay Rs.1,75,000 per month as interim maintenance.