According to Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Sharma II of Delhi, being unemployed does not exempt a husband from his duty to financially support his wife. Losing a job does not mean he is incapable of finding new work and does not release him from the responsibility to provide maintenance.
This statement was made during a criminal appeal filed under Section 29 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. The appeal was against a previous judgment (dated April 1, 2021), which ordered the husband to pay interim maintenance of Rs 5,133 per month to his wife, starting from the date she filed the petition until the case was fully resolved.
The wife had filed a complaint under Section 12 of the Act, accusing her husband and his family of mistreatment due to insufficient dowry. She alleged both physical and mental abuse and left the shared household in October 2013.
In her complaint, the wife also claimed that her husband earned more than Rs 50,000 per month and led a luxurious lifestyle. The court, however, observed that while the husband had lost his job, it didn’t mean he was unable to find new employment. He claimed his monthly expenses were around Rs 5,600, and that he was responsible for his mother, though he did not clarify the source of his income.
The court further noted that the husband holds a bachelor’s degree, is a skilled photographer, and lives in an ancestral home in a wealthy part of Delhi. He has no physical disabilities preventing him from working.
The court saw no valid reason to overturn the previous order, which required the husband to pay Rs 5,133 per month in interim maintenance to his wife.
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