Court refuses interim maintenance to woman doctor

A woman doctor has been denied interim alimony from her estranged husband, also in the same profession, by a Delhi court which observed that the wife was earning a reasonable amount and "grant of maintenance to a party is not to penalise the other person".
Additional Sessions Judge Manu Rai Sethi, while dismissing the woman's appeal, said she was earning more than Rs 20,000 and it cannot be held that she was not in a position to maintain or comfortably sustain herself.
"Grant of maintenance to a party is not to penalise the other person. Primary consideration for awarding interim maintenance is to help the claimant comfortably sustain herself during pendency of the proceedings," the court said.

It upheld the trial court' order which had denied interim maintenance to the woman observing that she and her estranged husband were equally qualified and she herself was employed.
"Admittedly, appellant (woman) is earning more than Rs 20,000 per month. By no stretch of imagination this amount can be said to be a meagre amount nor can a person earning this amount be said to be unable to maintain herself," it said.
The woman in her appeal had claimed that the trial court had wrongly declined her interim maintenance as her husband was much more qualified than her and they could not be put on the same economic pedestal regarding their earning capacity.

She claimed that her husband had pursued his higher education from Australia and was earning Rs 1.4 lakh per month and has high standard of living.

The woman claimed that being wife of the respondent, she was entitled to same standard of living and status in the society.
The husband, on the other hand, refuted the woman's claim saying the educational qualifications of his estranged wife was BDS and she has also completed MBA and could easily get a better job than what she was currently doing.
He alleged that she intentionally had not made any effort to secure a better salaried job for reasons best known to her.

In her plea for interim maintenance before the trial court, the woman had said she married the man on May 11, 2011 according to Hindu rites and ceremonies in Uttar Pradesh.
She had claimed that her in-laws were not happy with the dowry received in her marriage and used to harass her mentally and physically by torturing her verbally and emotionally.