Maintenance Case: How To Summon Wife’s Salary, ITR, Bank & Employment Records | Husband’s Legal Guide 2026

NEW DELHI: Wife says she has no income. Husband knows she is working. What should he do?

Do not fight maintenance on suspicion. Make the financial record speak.

Indian courts can direct disclosure and, in appropriate cases, summon salary records, employment details, bank statements and other financial documents relevant to deciding maintenance.

Wife Hiding Her Job? Section 94 BNSS Can Be Powerful

ALSO READ: How To Prove Wife’s Income, Employment & Earning Capacity In A Maintenance Case

The most important 2026 judgment for husbands is Arvind Kumar v. Smt. Namita, 2026:RJ-JD:15612, decided by the Rajasthan High Court on 6 April 2026.

The husband alleged that his wife was working as a nurse at Vyas Medicity and Super Speciality Hospital, Jodhpur and earning approximately ₹80,000 per month. He approached the hospital, but the private hospital refused to disclose her employment details without her consent.

He therefore moved the Family Court under Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, asking the court to summon her employment and salary records.

The Family Court rejected his application.

The Rajasthan High Court set that order aside. It held that documents concerning the wife's service and income were directly relevant to adjudicating maintenance. The Court directed the trial court to obtain the necessary employment and salary information from the hospital.

The High Court made the practical problem obvious:

“If the petitioner had access to such documents, there would have been no need to invoke Section 94 BNSS.”

That is the point many husbands miss.

You are not expected to illegally obtain somebody else’s confidential salary or bank records. You ask the court to call for records which are relevant but outside your possession.

What Does Section 94 BNSS Actually Allow?

Section 94 BNSS permits a court to require production of a document, electronic communication or other thing when its production is necessary or desirable for an investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding under the BNSS. It substantially performs the document-production function earlier associated with Section 91 CrPC.

For a maintenance proceeding under Section 144 BNSS, this can become important where the wife claims that she is unemployed or earning very little, while the husband places specific material before the court suggesting otherwise. Section 144 is the present maintenance provision corresponding to old Section 125 CrPC.

But remember one thing:

Section 94 is not a licence for a fishing expedition.

The Rajasthan High Court itself referred to the Supreme Court principle that the document sought must genuinely be necessary or desirable and that law does not permit a roving inquiry.

So do not ask:

“Call every financial record of my wife from everywhere.”

Ask:

“Call these identified records, from this identified custodian, for this relevant period, because they directly contradict this specific income disclosure.”

That is a much stronger application.

Rajnesh v. Neha: Both Parties Must Open Their Financial Books

The foundation remains the Supreme Court judgment in Rajnesh v. Neha, (2021) 2 SCC 324 / 2020 INSC 631.

The Supreme Court prescribed a detailed Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities for maintenance cases.

Among other things, the disclosure format requires information relating to:

The Supreme Court further held that where a disclosure is disputed, the aggrieved party may seek the court's permission for interrogatories and production of relevant documents from the opposite party under Order XI CPC. The Court can also require further information where necessary.

In other words:

A maintenance affidavit is not supposed to be creative writing.

Income, assets and liabilities have to withstand documentary scrutiny.

2026 MP High Court: Wife Says ₹6,000 Salary, But Where Is The Payslip?

A second important judgment is Rishabh Shrivastava v. Smt. Ritu Shrivastava @ Pinki Shrivastava, 2026:MPHC-JBP:53157, decided on 17 July 2026.

Both husband and wife were employed.

The wife disclosed income of ₹6,000 per month, but did not produce her payslip. The husband had placed a payslip showing his monthly income as ₹24,332.

Yet the Family Court presumed the husband's monthly income to be ₹50,000 because he was designated as a Marketing Manager, while accepting the wife's ₹6,000 figure without her salary slip.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court found this approach legally unsustainable.

It held that the Family Court should have obtained proper current payslips from both parties and remanded the maintenance case for fresh determination.

That is financial equality before the court:

Do not presume the husband's income upwards while accepting the wife's income downwards without documents.

Delhi High Court: Withholding Current Salary Records Can Backfire

In Smt. Geeta & Anr. v. State & Anr., decided 10 September 2025, the wife admitted employment in the Education Department.

An older salary slip showed ₹33,052 per month and her ITR for AY 2017-18 disclosed annual income of ₹4,00,724. She later claimed her current salary was only ₹10,000 per month but failed to produce a recent salary slip or Form 16 despite opportunities.

The Delhi High Court upheld the finding that withholding current income documents justified an adverse inference on the facts of that case, and the wife's maintenance claim was not sustained. The child's maintenance remained separate.

The lesson is simple:

When present income is disputed, present financial documents matter.

Concealed Employment And Bank Credits Can Change The Maintenance Case

In Sahiba Sodhi v. State NCT of Delhi & Anr., 2025:DHC:11064, the Delhi High Court considered employment history, earlier ITRs, bank credits, investments and other material inconsistent with the financial position disclosed by the wife.

The Court upheld the denial of interim monetary maintenance to the wife on the facts before it, while separately recognising her claim concerning residential support.

The Court observed:

“A party who suppresses material information regarding his or her income cannot claim maintenance…”

Financial disclosure therefore matters to both sides.

Exactly What Should A Husband Ask The Court To Summon?

A properly drafted application should target specific evidence.

Do not ask for ten years of every bank transaction unless there is a genuine reason.

Relevance beats volume.

Which Provision Should You Use?

This is where careless drafting causes trouble.

For Section 144 BNSS maintenance proceedings, Section 94 BNSS is now a significant route for obtaining relevant documents held by the wife, employer or another custodian, as demonstrated by Arvind Kumar v. Namita.

For matrimonial proceedings such as Section 24 or Section 25 Hindu Marriage Act, CPC procedure also becomes relevant. Section 24 itself requires the court to consider the applicant's own income and the respondent's income.

Rajnesh v. Neha specifically permits seeking production of relevant documents from the opposite party under Order XI CPC. For documents held by a third party, Order XVI Rule 6 CPC permits a person to be summoned simply to produce a document without being summoned to give evidence.

Family Courts also derive procedural powers from Section 10 of the Family Courts Act, 1984.

Under the present evidence law, Section 109 Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 deals with facts especially within a person's knowledge, while Section 168 BSA empowers the Judge to order production of documents or things for obtaining proof of relevant facts. These broadly correspond to Sections 106 and 165 of the old Evidence Act referred to in Rajnesh.

Do not mechanically file a Section 94 BNSS application in every matrimonial proceeding. The provision must match the proceeding and the court.

How I Would Build The Application

1. Identify the contradiction. Quote the wife's affidavit or pleading where she says she is unemployed or states a particular income.
2. Show your factual basis. Place lawful material indicating employment, such as public professional profiles, employer communications already available to you, admissions, prior salary documents or other legitimate evidence.
3. Identify the record-holder. Name the employer, bank or authority which actually possesses the document.
4. Ask for defined records. Mention the precise salary period, bank-account period, employment certificate, Form 16 or other document required.
5. Explain relevance. Connect the record directly to the determination of income and maintenance.
6. Explain why you cannot obtain it yourself. If the employer or institution has refused disclosure because the information is private, say so and place proof of that fact where available.

The application should seek evidence, not conduct an investigation into the wife's entire life.

Do Not Try To Get Her ITR Through Shortcuts

Financial privacy still matters.

In Income Tax Officer and CPIO v. Smt. Gulsanober Bano Zafar Ali Ansari & Anr., NC:2026:KHC:11056, decided on 21 February 2026, the Karnataka High Court held that one spouse's ITR and related financial information could not simply be obtained by the other through the RTI Act merely for a maintenance dispute.

Crucially, the High Court said the appropriate route for obtaining such records in a maintenance dispute is through the competent court adjudicating the maintenance case, not through RTI.

That is exactly how husbands should proceed.

Use the court. Do not hack accounts, misuse passwords, impersonate your wife, or unlawfully access her tax, bank or employment portals.

Illegally obtained evidence can create a new legal problem instead of solving the maintenance case.

One Important Warning: Working Wife Does Not Automatically Mean Zero Maintenance

This point must be legally clear.

The Supreme Court in Shailja v. Khobbanna held that being capable of earning and actually earning are different things. Mere earning capacity is not sufficient by itself to reduce maintenance.

Similarly, the fact that a wife earns some money does not automatically defeat every maintenance claim. The court must examine whether the income is real, current and sufficient in the circumstances.

That is precisely why salary slips, ITRs and bank records matter.

The husband's case should not be: “She is educated, so pay her nothing.”

The stronger case is:

“She has actual income. Here is the documentary trail. Let the maintenance be decided on the true financial position of both parties.”

Shonee Kapoor's Take

Maintenance litigation should not become a guessing game where a husband's salary is dissected down to the last rupee while the wife's income is accepted on a bare statement.

If her income matters to the case, prove it.

If the proof is locked with her employer, bank or another institution, ask the court to summon it.

Do not argue harder. Produce better evidence.

That is how a maintenance case should be fought in 2026.

FAQs

1. Can a husband summon his wife's salary records in a maintenance case?

Yes, where they are relevant. In Arvind Kumar v. Namita, the Rajasthan High Court allowed the husband's Section 94 BNSS application and directed the trial court to obtain the wife's employment and salary information from her private employer.

2. Can a husband obtain his wife's ITR through RTI?

Generally, no. The Karnataka High Court in Income Tax Officer v. Gulsanober held that ITRs are personal information and said the appropriate route in a maintenance dispute is through the competent court.

3. Is a LinkedIn profile enough to prove that the wife earns a salary?

Usually not by itself. It may provide a factual basis to seek proper employment records, but salary should preferably be established through reliable documents such as payslips, employer records, Form 16, bank credits or tax material.

4. Can the court draw an adverse inference if the wife hides her latest salary slip?

It can, depending on the facts. The Delhi High Court in Geeta upheld an adverse inference where recent salary records were withheld, while the MP High Court in Rishabh Shrivastava insisted that proper current income documents be considered.

5. Does a working wife automatically lose maintenance?

No. Actual and sufficient income matters. The Supreme Court has made clear that mere capacity to earn is different from actually earning.