The Delhi High Court, in adjudicating upon a petition seeking a reduction in the monthly interim maintenance payments from ₹25,000 to ₹15,000, premised on the wife\’s possession of a B.Sc. degree, has affirmed the principle that the academic qualifications of a spouse, such as graduation, do not ipso facto impose an obligation to engage in gainful employment. The Court unequivocally articulated that it is inappropriate to assume that the spouse is willfully refraining from seeking employment merely to claim maintenance from the estranged spouse.
A bench headed by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait underscored the indisputable fact that the wife is a graduate, while concurrently noting her lack of gainful employment. The Court, consequently, held that there existed no justifiable basis to modify the interim maintenance order set by the family court
\”No inference can be drawn that merely because the wife is holding a degree of graduation, she must be compelled to work. It can also not be presumed that she is intentionally not working solely with an intent to claim interim maintenance from the husband,\” said the bench, also comprising Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, in a recent order.
The court, upon careful deliberation, rejected the wife\’s plea to augment the maintenance amount, as she failed to establish justifiable grounds for such an increase, and the family court\’s previous evaluation of her and their son\’s financial needs was deemed to be reasonable.
Conversely, the court nullified the daily punitive charge of ₹1,000 levied against the husband for his delayed interim maintenance payments, substituting it with an order to pay interest at a rate of 6 percent per annum to the wife for the delayed disbursement of interim maintenance.
Furthermore, the court abrogated the daily penalty of ₹550 previously imposed for delays in the payment of litigation costs.
