Delhi high court

NEW DELHI: A professionally qualified woman should be able to take care of herself, the Delhi high court has said, denying maintenance demanded by a chartered accountant from her estranged husband.

“The appellant/wife, who is a qualified chartered accountant and has been in the profession since 2003, need not be granted interim maintenance under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act,” a bench of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Rani observed while rejecting her plea.

The wife had appealed against a trial court order that awarded her Rs 22,900 a month towards maintenance of her two children but declined to award an interim maintenance to her, pointing out that she was a chartered accountant with sufficient means to maintain herself.

According to the woman’s petition, the duo had got married in 2005 in Delhi. The estranged husband, an electrical engineer, runs his own business. He filed for divorce owing to “differences”.

The wife had sought an interim maintenance of Rs 3 lakh per month for herself and their two children, and around 1 Rs lakh towards litigation expenses.

When the trial court refused she appealed against it arguing that her income is Rs 7,000 per month but HC refused to buy the claim and noted that “a well-qualified wife who is working as a CA since 2003, cannot be expected to earn only Rs 7,000 per month, which is below the minimum wages payable to an unskilled worker.”

The wife also mentioned her reasonable wants from her husband which includes house rent, household expenses, miscellaneous expenses as well tuition fees and transport charges. But the trial court dubbed her claim of having no sufficient means to support herself and children as “jugglery of accounts.”

Appearing for the husband advocate Anirudh Mudgal assured HC that he will ensure good education for his children and bear the additional burden in case the school fee or transport allowance is increased.

The court then dismissed the plea of the wife saying the terms set by the trial court are reasonable.

