The Delhi High Court has enhanced the interim maintenance awarded to the wife under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, observing that the court is justified in assessing his earning capacity on the basis of applicable minimum wages in the absence of proper disclosure of income by the husband.
The case arose from the revision petition was filed by the wife challenging the order of the Family Court, Shahdara, which had granted interim maintenance of Rs. 2500 per month. The Muslim couple who got married in June 2021 has been living separately since June 2022. While the wife had claimed that she had no independent source of income, the husband argued that he was earning only Rs 10,000 by working in an NGO. He further claimed that the wife herself was able to sustain herself because she was earning Rs. 10,000 as a nursery teacher. Rejecting the husband’s contentions, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma noted that the husband had not placed any proof to support his claim regarding the employment of his wife. “Mere bald assertion that the wife is working and earning, without any proof to even prima facie support this claim, cannot be of any help to the respondent-husband at this stage”, the court held.
Further, the court has observed that the income details given by the husband were not complete and did not clearly reflect his actual earnings. The court noted that claimed income is even lower than the minimum wages payable to a skilled person, despite the respondent admittedly being a graduate.
The Court assessed the husband’s monthly income at ₹13,200 and held that the interim maintenance fixed by the Family Court was on the lower side. Accordingly, the interim maintenance payable to the wife was enhanced to ₹3,500 per month, payable from the date of filing of the application, subject to adjustment of amounts already paid.
The Court clarified that its observations were confined to the determination of interim maintenance and would not affect the merits of the pending trial before the Family Court.
Case Referred
Tasmeer Qureshi v. Asfia Muzaffar, 2025 SCC OnLine Del 7272
Appearance:
Advocate Raj Kumar for the petitioner
Advocate Lakshay Malhotra for the respondent
