New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has dismissed an appeal by a 70-year-old retired school teacher seeking interim maintenance from her estranged husband, noting that she possesses sufficient means to support herself.

A Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar upheld a February 8, 2023, order of the Family Court, which had rejected the woman’s plea for Rs 60,000 per month as interim maintenance and Rs 1 lakh litigation expenses under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

The Justice Kshetarpal-led Bench observed that “the income of the appellant (wife) is sufficient to maintain herself, and as such, the learned Family Court has rightly dismissed the application filed by her under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act.”

It opined that interim maintenance is meant to provide sustenance to a spouse genuinely unable to maintain themselves during matrimonial litigation, not as “an automatic entitlement”.

The appellant, Yashwani Verma, married the respondent, Virender Verma, in 1978 but has been living separately from him since 1987.

Although the parties filed for divorce by mutual consent in 2003, the appellant-wife later withdrew her consent.

In 2021, she filed a fresh petition before the Family Court, alleging that her husband had contracted a second marriage during the subsistence of their marriage, and sought a declaration that the subsequent marriage was null and void ab initio.

Seeking interim maintenance, the appellant contended that she survives on a pension of around Rs 2,000 a month and has no substantial income.

In contrast, the husband alleged that she earns about Rs 40,000 per month from private tuitions, lives in a self-owned house, and holds maturity proceeds from a Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) policy.

The respondent-husband said that he has been unemployed since 2017 after Reliance Communication’s collapse deprived him of retirement benefits and pension.

He, now 73, claimed to be living with his brother and surviving on loans – Rs 10 lakh from his brother and Rs 13 lakh from a friend, to meet medical exigencies.

In its judgement, the Delhi High Court noted that the couple had been separated for over three decades without the appellant-wife seeking maintenance earlier.

The court said that her interim maintenance application may have been prompted by the alleged second marriage and property transactions.

“The appellant is also residing with her two sons, both of whom appear to be gainfully employed. It appears that the appellant has adequate financial resources and support systems available to her,” the Bench added.

The Justice Kshetarpal-led Bench further acknowledged the husband’s financial distress, saying that “the respondent’s financial frailty, compounded by his advanced age, and loss of post-retirement entitlements, weighs significantly against imposing any further pecuniary obligation upon him.”

Dismissing the appellant’s appeal on the ground that she failed to demonstrate “genuine financial incapacity”, the Delhi High Court observed, “In the absence of any persuasive evidence justifying the appellant’s claim of the interim maintenance, this Court is of the considered view that the respondent should not be burdened with the obligation to provide interim maintenance, particularly when his own financial, physical and emotional conditions are visibly strained.”

–IANS

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