A person cannot be ordered to pay maintenance beyond his means even if the amount awarded to his estranged wife is insufficient to meet her basic needs, a Delhi court said on Wednesday, as it stressed that maintenance has to be assessed in context of the paying spouse’s actual or presumed income.
The estranged wife claimed that the man owned a medical store and earned rental income from agricultural and commercial properties. The magistrate court had consequently assessed his income on the basis of minimum wages applicable in Uttar Pradesh, where he was residing. The court made the observation while dismissing an appeal by a woman challenging an interim maintenance of ₹ 1,840 per month awarded by a magistrate under the Domestic Violence Act , news agency PTI reported.
However, no documents were produced to substantiate these claims due to which the court noted that there was no evidence to establish the monthly income of the man.
The observation was made by Additional Sessions Judge Parveen Singh while hearing the plea said the contention that the amount was too meagre to enable the woman to survive in Delhi could not be disputed. “The court has to keep in mind that the appellant could only be awarded maintenance of income which the respondent no 2 (husband) was having or could be presumed to have,” the court reportedly said in an order dated September 1, 2026. “At the same time, the court has to keep in mind that the appellant could only be awarded maintenance of income which the respondent no 2 was having or could be presumed to have,” the judge was quoted as saying.
The trial court followed the principles laid down by the Delhi High Court in Annurita Vohra v Sandeep Vohra case and divided the income among the family members for determining maintenance.
