Wife's maintenance amount can be 25% of husband's income, Allahabad High Court says

Allahabad High Court

• Allahabad High Court upholds wife's maintenance at Rs 3,000 per month
• Court rules maintenance can be up to 25% of husband's income
• Husband's petition dismissed; duty to support wife reaffirmed

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The Allahabad High Court, while hearing a petition related to maintenance, has ruled that a wife can be awarded maintenance of up to 25 per cent of her husband’s income. The court dismissed a criminal revision petition filed by the husband and upheld the Family Court’s decision to enhance the monthly maintenance payable to the wife.

The court observed that the husband has a sacred and legal duty to maintain his wife if she is unable to support herself. It further noted that the petitioner had not claimed any physical disability, and therefore could not avoid his responsibility to provide financial support. Justice Madan Pal Singh passed the order while dismissing the criminal revision petition filed by Suresh Chandra.

The case dates back to December 2024, when Chandra approached the Allahabad High Court seeking to quash a July 26, 2024 order passed by the Additional Principal Judge, Family Court, Shahjahanpur. The Family Court had increased the maintenance allowance payable to his wife from Rs 500 per month to Rs 3,000 per month, effective from the date of the order.

Challenging the decision, Chandra argued that the enhancement was unjustified. His counsel told the High Court that the wife had initially been granted maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on September 9, 2003, when the trial court directed the husband to pay Rs 500 per month. Later, on June 6, 2015, the wife filed an application under Section 127 of the CrPC seeking enhancement of maintenance, which the Family Court allowed, raising the amount to Rs 3,000 per month.

The petitioner’s lawyer contended that Chandra is a labourer with limited income and that the maintenance amount had been increased for the sixth time, making it excessive. It was also argued that the trial court failed to consider these factors while passing the order under Section 127 of the CrPC.

Opposing the plea, the Senior Additional Government Advocate representing the state submitted that in view of rising inflation, a maintenance amount of Rs 3,000 per month could not be considered excessive or beyond the petitioner’s capacity to pay.

While rejecting the petition, the High Court reiterated that it is the husband’s sacred and legal duty to maintain his wife if she is unable to support herself. The court also noted that there was nothing on record to indicate that the wife had any independent source of income, and therefore it could be presumed that she was unable to maintain herself.

Referring to several Supreme Court judgments, the court observed that even if the petitioner is treated as a labourer, he could reasonably earn around Rs 600 per day, translating to approximately Rs 18,000 per month. The Supreme Court has held that maintenance of up to 25 per cent of the husband’s total income, which would amount to Rs 4,500 in this case, can be awarded as subsistence allowance.

The Allahabad High Court concluded that the enhanced maintenance of Rs 3,000 per month was neither excessive nor unreasonable, describing it as a meagre amount in the present circumstances. The petition filed by Suresh Chandra was accordingly dismissed.