Can a highly qualified wife claim maintenance without disclosing her income? Calcutta High Court says financial transparency is mandatory, even at the ad-interim stage.

WEST BENGAL: The Calcutta High Court has ruled that a spouse’s earning capacity cannot be ignored while deciding interim maintenance cases. The Court set aside an order granting ₹12,000 monthly maintenance to a wife after finding that her financial status and professional background were not properly examined.

Justice Uday Kumar was hearing a revision petition filed by a husband who challenged an ex-parte order passed under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. The lower court had directed him to pay ₹12,000 per month to his wife and ₹8,000 per month for their minor daughter.

The husband argued that his wife was not financially dependent, but a qualified doctor specialising in Critical Care Medicine who had worked as a Senior Registrar in reputed hospitals. He claimed she had suppressed her professional status and income while seeking maintenance.

The High Court noted that the Magistrate granted maintenance on the very same day the Domestic Incident Report was filed, without asking either side to submit Affidavits of Assets and Liabilities as required under the Supreme Court judgment in Rajnesh v. Neha.

The Court observed that the disclosure rules laid down by the Supreme Court are mandatory and cannot be ignored. It held that passing maintenance orders without proper financial disclosure creates serious procedural defects.

In a major observation, the Court said:

“The law does not expect a highly qualified person to sit idle and remain a financial burden on the other spouse, especially when there is no physical or mental disability preventing them from working.”

The Court further held that:

“The Court must take into consideration… the educational and professional qualifications of the parties;… whether the applicant is educated and professionally qualified and what was the work profile of the applicant; whether the applicant was stay-at-home mother, or has been working and can get a job;… whether the applicant is capable of working and earning a salary.”

The judgment also stated:

“If a person is well-qualified and was working, the Court can certainly take note of her capacity to earn. A lady who is highly qualified… should not be allowed to sit at home and seek maintenance.”

While discussing misuse of maintenance law, the Court made strong remarks and observed that the beneficial provisions of law cannot become a tool for “professional parasitism.”

The High Court found that the lower court failed to examine the wife’s actual earning potential and passed the order in haste without giving the husband proper opportunity to place his financial details on record.

Accordingly, the Court set aside the ₹12,000 maintenance granted to the wife and sent the matter back for fresh consideration after proper financial disclosure by both sides.

However, the Court upheld the ₹8,000 monthly maintenance for the minor daughter, stating that a child’s right to maintenance is independent and cannot suffer because of disputes between parents.

The Court directed both parties to file their Affidavits of Assets and Liabilities and asked the Magistrate to reconsider the matter expeditiously.

Explanatory Table Of All Laws & Sections Referred In The Case

Case Details

Key Takeaways

• Calcutta High Court made it clear that highly qualified wives cannot hide earning capacity and seek automatic maintenance from husbands.
• The Court strongly held that financial disclosure is mandatory before fixing maintenance, exposing how many men are burdened through one-sided interim orders.
• The judgment openly warned against turning maintenance laws into a tool for “professional parasitism” and financial leverage.
• The Court recognised that educated and employable spouses cannot deliberately remain unemployed to extract money from husbands.
• The High Court protected the child’s rights separately but refused to blindly accept the wife’s “destitute” narrative without scrutiny.

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