Chennai, January 19: The Madras High Court has recently held that wife has the right to know her husband's salary details to seek maintenance in case of matrimonial dispute. A man had approached the Madras High Court against an order of the State Information Commission (SIC) asking his employer to share the petitioner's salary details with his wife. However, the court rejected his plea and upheld the SIC order.
Due to the ongoing matrimonial dispute, the petitioner's wife had sought maintenance from him. To decide the quantum of maintenance payable to her, she had reached out to her husband's employer seeking information about his service and salary under the Right to Information Act. However, her request had been denied after her husband raised an objection.
Wife Approached SIC, Got Favourable Order
The woman then knocked the door of the SIC, which eventually had passed an order directing the man's employer to furnish the information sought for by his wife. In 2020, the man had challeneged the SIC order in the Madras High Court. After hearing the case, the High Court refused to revoke the SIC order.
In his order, Justice GR Swaminathan observed that the petitioner's income shall decide the the quantum of maintenance payable to his wife as matrimonial proceedings are pending between them. Rejecting the husband's claim that his wife was a third party in the matter, the judge said the woman would be unable to claim rightful maintaince unless she knows details about her husband's salary.
Justice Swaminathan cited an order passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court which held that the wife is entitled to know about her husband's salary, and rejected the husband's plea, thus uphelding the SIC order.
