Earning woman entitled to alimony too, says apex court

Elaborating on the oft repeated phrase “unable to sustain herself”, the Bench further noted that it did not mean that the wife must be absolutely destitute before she could apply for maintenance under the Section.

The judgment authored by Justice Pasayat also clarified that the mere fact that the wife was earning some income would not rule out application of the Section.

The Bench clearly brought out that there were two basic “requisites” before a claim could be made for seeking alimony under legal provisions—under the law, the burden is placed in the first place upon the wife to show that the means of her husband are sufficient and that the wife is unable to maintain herself, terming the second as “an inseparable condition”. The ruling was passed while dismissing an appeal filed by Madhya Pradesh resident Chaturbhuj, challenging a trial court’s decision to award the Rs 1,500 monthly maintenance allowance to his estranged wife Sita Bai.

A Sessions court and later the Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld the trial court’s decision following which Chaturbhuj appealed in the apex court.