Graduate Wife Still Entitled to Higher Maintenance: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court has ruled that simply being a graduate or having completed a professional course does not mean a wife is earning enough to support herself. The court made this observation while deciding a criminal revision filed by a woman seeking an increase in her maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The case involved a wife who had been granted ₹5,000 per month by the Family Court as maintenance from the date of her application. She argued that the amount was too low considering her husband’s monthly net income of ₹35,000–₹40,000 as an employee of the Indian Navy. She sought at least 25% of his income as maintenance.
Her counsel pointed out that the trial court had fixed ₹4,000 until the date of the order, and then ₹5,000 per month thereafter, without giving any clear reasons. The husband, meanwhile, claimed that the wife was a B.A. graduate, earned ₹10,000 per month by giving tuition, and had completed a beautician course through which she could earn more. However, he provided no documentary proof of her earnings.
The High Court rejected the husband’s claim, stating that no assumption could be made about her ability to maintain herself merely because of her educational qualifications or professional training.
The court enhanced the monthly maintenance to ₹10,000—approximately 25% of the husband’s net monthly income of ₹43,020. It also directed the husband to clear arrears in four equal instalments within four months and to pay future maintenance before the 7th of every month.
The judgment underscores that educational qualifications alone cannot be grounds to deny a wife fair maintenance if there is no proof of her independent earnings.
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