Mumbai court sets aside maintenance order after noting wife earns more than husband

A Mumbai sessions court recently reversed an interim order passed by a magistrate directing the husband to pay ₹10,000 as maintenance to his estranged wife after discovering that the wife earned substantially more income than the husband. .Additional sessions judge SB Pawar observed that the object of granting maintenance is to ensure that a dependent spouse is not reduced to destitution or vagrancy on account of the failure of a marriage. The relevant factors to decide on the maintenance amount included the reasonable needs of a wife, whether she has an independent income source, the financial capacity of the husband etc.However, in the present case, the Court found that the difference between the income earned by the wife and the husband was huge, with the wife earning more than her husband. “In the present case, the income of both parties is highly disproportionate. The wife owns a business concern and her annual income for the year 2020-2021 is shown as ₹89,35,720. The husband’s income before filing the application is about ₹3,50,000 and that too as a salary from the wife’s business,” the court noted..Judge Pawar proceeded to opine that the magistrate failed to consider the sound financial position of the wife while passing the maintenance order and, hence, set it aside.“The magistrate proceeded to grant interim maintenance which in my view is not as per the settled principles of law. I come to the conclusion that the order is not just, legal and reasonable,” the sessions judge said..The observations came in an appeal challenging a magistrate court order in an application under the Domestic Violence Act.The wife had alleged mental abuse and claimed that she had been held at ransom when she asked for a divorce. She added that the husband also demanded ₹4 crore from her.The husband denied these allegations and counter-alleged that his estranged wife had multiple affairs. In December, the magistrate's court granted her interim maintenance. Aggrieved, the husband moved the sessions court in appeal. .The sessions court then set aside the maintenance order on finding that the wife was financially sound and had independent income that was sufficient to support herself. .[Read Order]