Bombay HC Refuses Interim Maintenance To US-Based Woman Earning More Than Former Husband

Mumbai, July 23: The Bombay High Court has refused to grant interim maintenance of Rs 1 lakh per month to a woman living in the United States, holding that a spouse who earns substantially more than her husband cannot seek maintenance merely because the cost of living abroad is high.

A Bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande dismissed the woman's interim application challenging a Family Court order that had declined her claim for maintenance after dissolving the marriage.

The Family Court had only directed the husband to pay Rs 25,000 towards litigation expenses. It had also granted custody of the couple's elder son to the husband, while the younger son remained with the wife.

Court Compares Financial Positions

The High Court noted that the woman had been residing in the US since 2011 and was highly qualified, holding BCA, MCA, PMP and SAFe certifications. She is currently employed with Mark Infotech Inc. in New Jersey and earns a gross monthly salary of USD 8,700.

In comparison, the husband has a non-technical background with only a basic SAP course and works in the IT sector. “Due to increasing competition and automation brought by AI, he is currently employed in the IT sector; however, he is in constant fear of losing his job at any moment,” the court noted in its order.

The judges also noted that while the wife is taking care of the younger son, the husband is bearing the expenses of the elder son's education in Australia. He also has the responsibility of supporting his elderly parents and his second wife, whom he married after the divorce.

Cost Of Living No Ground

The woman argued that she had been single-handedly meeting the younger son's expenses and had no surplus income because of the high cost of living in the US.

Rejecting the contention, the Bench said, “Her only excuse is that she is living under extreme financial strain due to exorbitant cost of living abroad. In our view, this cannot be a ground for claiming interim maintenance during the pendency of the Family Court appeal.”

The court further observed that the woman had sufficient independent income and had already been denied permanent alimony by the Family Court, against which her appeal is still pending.

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Explaining the scope of Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, the Bench said the provision is meant to assist a financially weaker spouse who lacks sufficient means to support themselves or meet litigation expenses.

“The very object of Section 24 is that the financially weaker party should be able to defend the proceedings ably and is not left in a vulnerable financial position,” the Bench said while dismissing the application.

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