Father can’t cite EMIs to avoid supporting minor triplets, says Gujarat High Court despite mother’s higher income

Justice Gita Gopi was hearing a matter over a maintenance dispute on May 5.

Court directed parties to file affidavits

• On July 3, 2024, an order was passed in the criminal revision petition for enhancing maintenance filed by the three minor triplets, aged about 9 at the time, through their mother.
• The Gujarat High Court noted that the husband was serving as a water bearer at the District Consumer Redressal Forum and earning Rs 14,800 per month, while also repaying loans taken for his second wife.
• It was observed that the father had remarried and was earning some additional income from a temporary job.
• Taking into consideration the needs of the three children, the court enhanced the maintenance amount from Rs 1,800 per child to Rs 2,500 per child.
• The husband’s counsel argued that, according to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the absence of the wife’s financial disclosure warrants the order passed to be recalled.
• The husband challenged the same through a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, and subsequently, the top court set aside the Gujarat High Court’s order and remitted it back.
• Both parties were directed to file affidavits in terms of the apex court’s ruling.
• The court attempted mediation between the parties, which was also unsuccessful.

Mother’s affidavit 

The affidavit produced by the mother before the Gujarat High Court stated that the accommodation fare for the three children was Rs 4,500, and their monthly school fees were Rs 9,000, which added up to Rs 13,500, besides other expenses.

It stated that their medical expenses added up to Rs 1,500. The children were presently studying in Class 11 with Rs 20,000 as tuition fees, while one of her children was not taking any tuition.

The mother had disclosed that she was a primary teacher at a Balvatika earning a salary of Rs 88,368, while paying a monthly loan EMI of Rs 12,779, an active loan of Rs 3,488, and petrol expenses of Rs 2,400. Additionally, she was living alone and had not remarried.

Father’s affidavit

The father’s affidavit before the Gujarat High Court records his monthly expenses as Rs 10,000, his mother received Rs 8,000 as pension, and expenses on the dependent were shown as Rs 3,500.

In the details of his income, his designation was shown was as ‘water bearer’ in the District Consumer Redressal Forum, earning a monthly income of Rs 14,600. 

He had also referred to his payment of the LIC premium of Rs 560 and Rs 455 per month in the name of his child from the second wife, and the details of an EMI against a Rs 40,000 loan taken for his second wife were shown as Rs 2,140.

Proportional distribution of father’s salary: Court

• The mother was handling the educational and medical expenses of all three children individually and was their only support system, the court noted.
• The Gujarat High Court observed that the father was not ordered to pay any maintenance to the first wife, but his liability to maintain children cannot be subordinate to any such financial arrangement of paying EMI or loan repayment.
• The court said the father had to bear the expenses proportionally among the triplets from his first marriage, his second wife, and his son from his second marriage, excluding his mother, who had her pension and was financially independent, making the total unit six.
• Based on the salary notification dated July 16, 2019, the father’s income was taken as Rs 14,600 per month, and each child (triplets) was granted Rs 1,000 per month from the date, the Gujarat High Court said in its order dated May 5.

Maintenance must be assessed on husband’s economic status not wife’s MBA or past earnings

The Allahabad High Court recently held that the entitlement to maintenance must be assessed from the social and economic status of the husband and not merely based on the wife’s past earnings or educational qualifications.

Justice Garima Prashad made the observation while dealing with a plea filed by a wife in a matrimonial dispute case seeking enhancement of the maintenance amount awarded to her by a family court.

Setting aside the maintenance amount of Rs 15,000 per month by the family court, the Allahabad High Court on April 20 observed, “The entitlement to maintenance must be assessed in light of the social and economic status of the husband and not merely on the basis of the wife’s past earnings or educational qualifications.”