Bombay High Court hikes wife’s maintenance to Rs 11,000, junks ‘won’t live together’ claim

The court noted that the husband had initially denied the marriage itself, while also stating that he was willing to accept the woman as his wife if she returned to live with him.

The Bombay High Court increased the monthly maintenance to be paid to a man’s wife from Rs 6,000 to Rs 11,250 after recalculating it according to 25 per cent of the husband’s net salary. The court rejected the husband’s claim that she refused to live with him, citing domestic abuse as valid justification.

Justice Rajesh S Patil was dealing with an estranged couple’s plea challenging a family court’s maintenance order. The wife was seeking an increase in the maintenance amount, while the husband sought to cancel or reduce it.

“Considering the evidence led before the family court, nowhere could I find that any objection as mentioned in section 125(4) of CrPC was raised. In fact, the argument on behalf of the husband is that there was no marriage. The wife has stated that she cannot stay with the husband because he has suppressed many facts,” the court said on September 4.

Section 125(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) disqualifies a wife from maintenance only if she refuses to live with her husband without sufficient reason. It says that no wife shall be entitled to receive maintenance or interim maintenance from her husband if she is living in adultery or if she refuses to live with her husband without enough reason, or if they are living separately by mutual consent.

The wife had approached the family court seeking maintenance from her husband. In August 2025, the family court partly allowed her plea and directed the husband to pay her Rs 6,000 per month from June 16, 2023, the date on which she filed the maintenance application. Both the husband and wife challenged the order before the high court.

Justice Rajesh S Patil held that the wife had valid reasons to stay away from the marital home.

The husband opposed the wife’s claim, arguing that she was not entitled to maintenance as she had refused to live with him. However, the court noted that he had initially denied the marriage itself, while also stating that he was willing to accept her as his wife if she returned to live with him.

The wife, meanwhile, said she had sufficient reasons for living separately. She alleged that the husband had concealed material facts, including circumstances relating to his first wife’s death and details concerning his family.

She also alleged that her mother-in-law abused her, the husband’s nephew molested her, and the husband physically assaulted her, leaving her with no option but to leave the matrimonial home.

‘25% of husband’s salary as maintenance’

The high court noted that the family court had originally ordered the husband to pay Rs 6,000 per month based on his net take-home salary of Rs 45,076. Citing the Supreme Court judgment, the court noted that awarding 25 per cent of the husband’s net salary as maintenance is considered standard and fair.

Applying the 25 per cent standard to the husband’s net salary of Rs 45,076, the court calculated the maintenance to be roughly Rs 11,250, and increased the maintenance amount from Rs 6,000 to Rs 11,250 per month, effective from the application date of June 16, 2023.

The husband claimed that the wife was not entitled to maintenance because she refused to live with him. The court observed contradictions in his stance: he first denied that they were legally married, but then offered to take her back and pay her Rs 10,000 per month if she lived with him.

The court held that the wife had valid, sufficient reasons to stay away, as the evidence showed, “The husband suppressed facts about his previous marriage, the cause of his first wife’s death, and that one of his daughters was disabled. She faced physical abuse by the husband, abuse from his mother, and molestation by his nephew, leaving her with no choice but to leave,” it noted.