Top Court Rejects Maintenance Plea, Citing Equal Employment Status of Estranged Couple
In a historic divorce judgment on spousal support, the Supreme Court has turned down a wife’s plea to pursue money from her estranged husband on the basis that both the spouses are professionally equal and earn equal salaries. The judgment has sparked controversy regarding financial accountability in marriages where the two spouses are professionally equal.
A two-judge bench consisting of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan dismissed the woman’s request, who, like her husband, is also an assistant professor. The court held, “Both the first petitioner and respondent are holding the same position of an Assistant Professor. No case for interference is made out in exercise of our jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. The special leave petition is accordingly dismissed.”
The estranged husband opposed the woman’s maintenance application, arguing that she was self-sufficient and earned approximately ₹60,000 per month, whereas he earned approximately ₹1 lakh per month. The court, referring to the disparity in the amount they earned, asserted that her ability to support herself was more than the threshold of maintenance.
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The wife’s legal representative contended that the wife’s capacity to earn did not absolve the husband from payment of maintenance. However, the court, aided by the evidence of their professional equality of status, declined to grant her relief.
This follows after her appeal was dismissed by a trial court and the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the case eventually going to the country’s highest court.
Legal commentators believe this ruling has the potential to redefine the standards for spousal support, placing greater emphasis on the idea of economic independence over traditional notions. As more couples have more equal professional standing, the ruling is a progressive but polarizing solution to marital obligation.
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