Madras High Court sets aside Family Court order directing wife to pay interim maintenance
Madras High Court recently aside Family Court Order while observing that the husband was not fully incapacitated.
The Madras High Court recently set aside an order of a Family Court wherein a wife had been directed to pay interim maintenance to her husband during the pendency of their divorce petition. The Family Court had found the husband incapacitated.
The division bench of Justice R. Subramanian and Justice K Thilakavadi observed,
“The learned judge magnified a small procedure as if the husband is totally incapacitated and proceeded to grant maintenance. Even though it is a civil appeal where we could not look into the material, which is not placed before the Trial court, the wife has produced the income tax assessment of the husband for the years 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021.”
The counsel appearing for the appellant contended that if a husband has to claim maintenance from the wife, he must prove that he is unable to eke out his livelihood by doing any work. In the absence of such proof, there cannot be a direction for payment of maintenance by the wife to the husband, he asserted.
In the present case, the only reason that was projected by the husband for his inability to work and earn was that he had undergone an angioplasty.
Angioplasty as commonly understood is a fixation of a stent for widening the blood vessels and it does not incapacitate a person.
The husband can always do his business and work for his livelihood, despite such procedure having been done. It is not a major heart surgery, which would cripple a person, the counsel for wife contended.
Due to the fact that the case included the payment of maintenance, the high court deemed it necessary to review the husband's income tax returns for the preceding years, which were supplied by the wife.
Court found that the husband's average annual salary in the preceding years was between six and eight lakh rupees.
“In the light of such evidence that has been placed before us, we do not think, we could sustain the order of the Family Court. This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is therefore allowed, the order granting interim maintenance is set aside,” the court, therefore, held.
Case Title: SR vs. MCR