Maintenance should not become a burden on husband: Jharkhand HC
The court made the observation while hearing a petition in a matrimonial dispute filed by a Dhanbad resident.
It is the moral obligation of the husband to provide maintenance to his wife, ensuring she maintains a lifestyle similar to that of her matrimonial home, but this does not justify burdening the man to the extent that marriage becomes a punishment to him, the Jharkhand high court opined in its recent order.
The court made the observation while hearing a petition in a matrimonial dispute filed by a Dhanbad resident, who prayed for revision of the maintenance amount awarded to his wife.
“Certainly, it is moral duty of the husband to pay maintenance to his wife so that she may also reside in the same status as would have been in matrimonial house; but it does not mean to squeeze milk from the husband that the marriage becomes felony for the husband,” a bench of Justice Subhash Chand said in its order, as reported by LiveLaw.
The court partly allowed the revision petition challenging the Dhanbad family court order, directing the petitioner to pay a monthly allowance of ₹40,000 to his wife.
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According to the case details, the petitioner and his wife got married in 2018, following Hindu customs. However, soon after the marriage they separated because of domestic disputes.
During the hearing, it was brought to the high court’s notice that the wife has filed income tax returns for the past four years despite claiming no income. The bench, however, observed that even if the woman was earning, she was entitled for maintenance from her husband to maintain living standard in line with her matrimonial home.
The petitioner also informed the bench that he has to take care of his ailing mother. The court took note of the submission and pulled up the family court for not taking this into consideration while deciding on the alimony amount.
In its order, the court revised the alimony amount to ₹25,000 a month considering the facts of the case, Livelaw reported.
Highlighting the importance of determining a reasonable and realistic maintenance amount, the court stressed the need to strike a balance, ensuring that the maintenance awarded to the wife is not exorbitant, causing hardship to the husband, nor meager, pushing the wife into poverty.
