BENGALURU: A court cannot automatically order a husband to pay maintenance just because the wife files a petition invoking provisions under the Domestic Violence Act, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, or the Code of Criminal Procedure, observed the Karnataka high court.The court must examine the facts and decide whether the wife is entitled to it, HC observed while granting relief to a man from Mysuru.Justice Chillakur Sumalatha observed that where a wife is financially sound, earns more than her husband, and has no other responsibilities such as raising children, courts should not be inclined to grant maintenance merely on the assumption that a woman must be looked after by a man or a wife must invariably be maintained by her husband.The court said maintenance, be it interim or final, should be given only when it is established that the wife has no financial resources to maintain herself consistent with the standard of living enjoyed by her husband.The petitioner-husband challenged the December 19, 2025, order passed by a Mysuru court directing him to pay Rs 20,000 as interim maintenance. The wife had filed a petition against him and his family by invoking provisions under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
Woman failed to furnish details of loans: Court
She sought Rs 1,13,515 per month for her sustenance and then Rs 50,000 towards litigation costs. Challenging it, the husband claimed they lived together for only two months. He added that his wife earns more than Rs 1 lakh a month and as per TDS, her salary is Rs 1,64,285 while his salary was only Rs 57,000.While the wife agreed that she earns more than Rs 1 lakh, she argued that she had debts which she incurred towards the wedding. The judge observed the court ought to have discussed the wife’s self-admitted higher income while passing the impugned order.The judge noted that the wife had failed to furnish details of the loans she had taken or EMIs she was paying towards their repayment. The judge held that the wife, with an income of Rs 1 lakh, can support herself and therefore the trial court need not direct the husband to pay Rs 20,000 maintenance.
