'Highly qualified', says court rejecting wife's plea for maintenance
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New Delhi: A wife's petition for interim monetary relief under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act was rejected by a Delhi court, saying that she is highly qualified and could find a source of income. The court also observed that allowing her maintenance would promote idleness and dependency on the husband, PTI reported.
In the case, heard by Metropolitan Magistrate Swayam Siddha Tripathy, the applicant sought Rs 50,000 per month as maintenance.
"The complainant (wife) is highly qualified and capable of finding a source of income for herself, and allowing maintenance will only promote idleness and dependency on the husband. Therefore, I am not inclined to grant any maintenance in view of her capacity to earn," the magistrate said.
The court ruled that the wife's right to receive maintenance from the husband was not "absolute".
"The complainant has to prove that either she is not earning or her income is not sufficient to maintain the same standard of living which was provided to her in the matrimonial house," the court said.
The court noted that though the wife was an MBA graduate, qualified at par with her husband, and able-bodied, she did not choose to seek a job. Also, the husband, a qualified doctor, was presently unemployed and said he was not living a luxurious life.
"Thus, both the complainant and her husband are capable of earning but are not employed. Therefore, this argument (of not having any income) cannot be used against one unemployed spouse for providing maintenance to the other unemployed spouse," the court said.
Referring to a 2001 judgement of the Delhi High Court, the magistrate said that principles of equity must be applied in cases of maintenance.
"Equity means fairness and evenness, and it cannot be applied solitarily upon the aggrieved wife. In the absence of any dependent, either of the qualified spouses cannot be made responsible for the other's well-being considering that neither of them is on the verge of destitution," the magistrate said.