Maintenance — Factors Beyond Income · 11 August 2026

Delhi High Court: Interim Maintenance Cannot Be Fixed by Looking Only at the Husband's Income

High Court of Delhi · 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 745

The couple had married in 1995 and had two children. After the wife sought maintenance in 2021, the Family Court awarded her ₹25,000 a month on an ad-interim basis, later enhancing it to ₹30,000. The husband challenged the enhanced figure, pointing out that both children lived with him and that he alone bore their educational and other expenses — including the elder daughter's MBBS course — while the wife held an MBA (Finance) degree plus other qualifications, earned rental and fixed-deposit interest income, and lived rent-free in a house he owned. The wife opposed this, noting the husband's own income tax records showed earnings of over ₹63 lakh for the relevant year and that he also ran a cargo business.

The Delhi High Court reduced the interim maintenance to ₹25,000 a month. It held that Section 125 CrPC requires a Family Court to weigh the cumulative circumstances of both parties, not fix the amount by looking at the husband's income alone — and that the Family Court here, despite noting the wife's qualifications, earning capacity and rent-free accommodation, had not given those factors adequate weight. The Court did not disturb the underlying maintenance order itself, only its quantum, and the reduced amount was made payable from the original 2021 filing date.

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