‘One who seeks equity must do equity’: Court dismisses woman’s maintenance plea
The woman had sought interim maintenance of Rs 50,000 from her husband, submitting in the Delhi court that she was an unemployed graduate and had no income.
A Delhi court last week dismissed a plea for maintenance from a woman, who submitted in her affidavits that she was an unemployed graduate and had no income, as the court noted that she had not disclosed her financial condition and educational experience “to extort money from her husband”. “One who seeks equity must do equity,” underlined the court in the order.
In her plea, the woman had sought interim maintenance of Rs 50,000 (including Rs 18,000 for rent) from her husband. The couple got married in July 2022 and separated in October 2023. Their divorce proceedings are underway. Advocate Pravesh Dabas, who appeared for the woman’s husband, said his client’s income was Rs 55,000 and that he paid a rent of Rs 8,000 and an EMI of Rs 35,000.
“It prima facie seems that the petitioner has tried to conceal her true financial condition and working and educational experience in order to extort money by way of maintenance from the respondent (husband),” said Judicial Magistrate First Class (Mahila Court) Shruti Sharma
in an order on May 2.
The woman’s husband had contended that his wife had not disclosed her complete educational qualification. He brought to record her diploma certificate in computer science and engineering, and her B.Ed certificate. He also submitted an offer letter for a job for her. The woman had disclosed that she had taught at a school for a year from September 2022.
“It is very clear that the petitioner has not approached the court with clean hands for the purpose of the present application. One who seeks equity must do equity. Granting any interim maintenance to the petitioner would amount to giving benefit of her own wrong to the petitioner,” the court said after taking note of the man’s submissions.
“In the judgments, as relied on by Ld. Counsel for respondent (husband), it was clearly mentioned that the courts are not there to create an army of unemployed educationally qualified women. The petitioner, as per the record brought forth by the respondent, seems to be financially sound and capable of making an independent source of earnings. The petitioner (wife) in no way seems to be in the condition of destitution and vagrancy,” it added.
The man argued that his wife had “not deliberately disclosed” the fact that she had done additional courses to enhance her skills and that she had failed to disclose her past working experience. A copy of an income tax return from 2021 to 2022 was also submitted before the court, which revealed her income to be Rs 1.3 lakh.
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As the court highlighted that “no reasonable explanation is given throughout the argument as to why the concealments are there in the income affidavit and why the same come on record by the respondent and not by the petitioner,” the woman said that the information could not be furnished before the court owing to “human error”.
A domestic violence case lodged by the woman against her husband is also going on.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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