Maintenance to estranged wife is not bounty: HC

NEW DELHI: Maintenance awarded to an estranged wife is for her survival and should not be seen as a “bounty”, and it has to be given from the date of her application, Delhi high court has held. The court order came while dismissing a man’s plea challenging a trial court’s May 2017 order, directing him to pay an interim maintenance of Rs 40,000 to his estranged wife from the date of filing of the application – March 2014.

The plea said the payment should not have been related to the date of the application but to the date of the order by the trial court. HC noted in its recent order the man has not challenged the quantum of maintenance assessed by the trial court.
“The object of grant of maintenance is to afford a subsistence allowance to the wife who is not able to maintain herself…the
award normally should be from the date of the application. For the court to award maintenance from the date of the order there
have to be compelling circumstances.
“Maintenance awarded to a wife is not a bounty. It is awarded to her so she can survive. The fact that time is spent between the
date of the application and a final adjudication and an award in favour of the wife, does not mean she had enough funds to
maintain herself,” Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said.

Credit:
The Times of India : 21 May 2019 : Page 5