Maintenance Can Go Up to 25% of Husband’s Income: Allahabad HC
Court upholds enhanced allowance, says husband has sacred and legal duty to support wife
- High Court says wife can get maintenance up to 25% of husband’s income
- Dismisses husband’s plea challenging enhanced maintenance
- Upholds Family Court order raising allowance to ₹3,000 per month
- Says healthy husband cannot evade responsibility towards wife
GG News Bureau
Prayagraj, 14th Jan: In a key ruling on maintenance rights, the Allahabad High Court has held that a wife’s maintenance allowance can extend up to 25 per cent of the husband’s total income, reiterating that a husband has both a sacred and legal obligation to support his wife who is unable to maintain herself.
Justice Madan Pal Singh dismissed a criminal revision petition filed by Suresh Chandra, who had challenged the Family Court’s decision enhancing the monthly maintenance payable to his wife from ₹500 to ₹3,000.
The case dates back to September 9, 2003, when the Family Court, Shahjahanpur, had initially directed Chandra to pay ₹500 per month under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). In June 2015, his wife sought revision under Section 127 of the CrPC, following which the court increased the allowance to ₹3,000 per month through its order dated July 26, 2024.
Challenging the order, Chandra argued that he was a daily wage labourer with limited income and that the enhancement was excessive, especially as the maintenance amount had been revised multiple times. However, the state, represented by the Senior Additional Government Advocate, contended that given prevailing inflation levels, the revised amount was neither unreasonable nor beyond his means.
Rejecting the plea, the High Court observed that there was no material on record to show that the wife had any independent source of income. It further noted that the petitioner had not claimed any physical disability, and therefore could not evade his responsibility to maintain his wife.
Citing Supreme Court precedents, the court observed that even if the husband was treated as a labourer, he could earn around ₹600 per day, amounting to approximately ₹18,000 per month. It added that as per judicial guidelines, maintenance up to 25 per cent of a husband’s income — in this case ₹4,500 — could be awarded.
Upholding the Family Court’s order, the High Court said the enhanced maintenance of ₹3,000 per month was modest and could not be termed excessive. The revision petition was accordingly dismissed.
