Wife’s interim maintenance cannot be determined with mathematical precision: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court, while enhancing a woman’s interim maintenance, has said the amount cannot be determined with mathematical precision.

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Justice Amit Mahajan has also said that “mere earning in foreign currency” does not entitle the wife to claim maintenance by “mechanically converting the husband’s foreign income into Indian currency”.

The court was hearing revision petitions filed by the woman and her husband against a May 2023 order of a family court awarding ₹50,000 as monthly interim maintenance. The wife had sought an enhancement of the amount, while the husband had contested the award order.

In an order dated December 23, the court said, “The determination of interim maintenance is not an exercise capable of mathematical precision.”

“More often than not, particularly in cases where one of the spouses is employed abroad and has failed to place a complete and candid disclosure of income before the court, the assessment necessarily involves a degree of estimation and informed guesswork,” it added.

The court said it could not embark upon a roving or final inquiry at the interim stage and was required to arrive at a reasonable figure on the basis of available material, surrounding circumstances, lifestyle indicators and the admitted earning capacity of the earning spouse.

“It stands admitted that the husband is gainfully employed with Amazon.com Services LLC as a software engineer and he has also not denied that he is residing in the US.

“It is also admitted that the wife is unemployed, and the wife had specifically asserted that her husband has been earning approximately ₹1.76 crore per annum,” the court pointed out.

It noted that the wife had submitted an affidavit regarding the husband’s income in US dollars and the conversion rates prevailing at the relevant time.

“In the present case, it is undisputed that the husband is earning in foreign currency and is residing in the U.S.. Consequently, he is also required to incur expenses in foreign currency, and the standard as well as the cost of living in the U.S. cannot be equated with that prevailing in Delhi,” the court observed.

It, however, said the entirety of the husband’s income could not be equalised or proportionately mirrored in the amount of maintenance.

“Mere earning in foreign currency does not, by itself, entitle the wife to claim maintenance by mechanically converting the husband’s foreign income into Indian currency and applying the formulae evolved by Indian courts without due regard to the attendant circumstances,” the court said.

It then enhanced the interim maintenance amount to Rs 1 lakh per month based on a broad, reasonable and rounded-off assessment.