New Delhi: A court here has rejected a woman’s plea for interim maintenance under the Domestic Violence Act, observing that she is well-educated and capable of finding a source of income. In such a situation, allowing her to pay alimony will encourage indolence and dependence on her husband. The Metropolitan Magistrate was hearing an application seeking interim maintenance of Rs 50,000 per month under the Self-Established Tripathi Act.
The judge said, “The complainant (wife) is well educated and capable of finding a source of income for herself, in such a situation allowing alimony will only encourage indolence and dependence on the husband.” Therefore, I am not inclined to pay any maintenance keeping in view his earning capacity.
The court gave this decision
The court said that instead of proving the husband’s income and a better lifestyle, the wife has to show that she is unable to meet her expenses, survive and even meet her basic needs and has been left to fend for herself.
It said, “The complainant has to prove that either she is not earning or her income is not sufficient to maintain the standard of living which was available to her in her in-law’s house.”
The court observed that in the present case, the wife is an MBA and equally qualified as her husband. It also said that the husband, who is a doctor, is currently unemployed.
On the other hand, a few days before this, during the hearing of a case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court said that even if the husband begs, he will have to pay alimony to the wife. This is his moral and legal responsibility. In fact, the High Court was hearing the decision of the Charkhi Dadri Family Court, in which the husband was directed to pay Rs 5,000 per month to the wife as alimony. Then this decision was challenged in the High Court.
