The Delhi High Court has drawn a firm line—being educated or earning a salary does not automatically disqualify a wife from interim maintenance.
A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Renu Bhatnagar made it clear that what matters under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act is not whether the wife has a job, but whether her income allows her to live with the same dignity and lifestyle she shared during marriage.
“The essence of interim maintenance,” the Court explained, “is balance. It ensures that the economically weaker spouse and the child are not left disadvantaged while the other continues with financial superiority.”
The case stemmed from a woman’s challenge to a family court order that had fixed her maintenance at ₹35,000 a month—plus her daughter’s school expenses—after concluding that she was already earning enough as a Delhi University Assistant Professor.
The couple married in 2013, had a daughter in 2016, and parted ways in 2019. The family court reasoned that maintenance was meant only to prevent destitution, not to bridge the gap between incomes.
The High Court disagreed. It pointed out the sharp contrast between the woman’s ₹1.25 lakh salary and her husband’s corporate package of nearly ₹1 crore annually, complete with stock options and allowances. The judges also noted that the wife alone bears the daily responsibility of raising their daughter, while still depending on her parents for support.
Highlighting that “residing indefinitely with parents is neither sustainable nor fair,” the Court said the woman’s earnings were insufficient to maintain herself and her child in a manner consistent with the life she once shared with her husband.
As a result, the interim maintenance was raised to ₹1.5 lakh per month.
