Must Pay Divorced Wife Even If Husband Has No Job
The allahabad high court ruled that even if a husband lacks money, he must offer maintenance to his wife after divorce because he may potentially earn roughly Rs 300-400 per day as an unskilled laborer. The magistrate made this ruling during a hearing on a petition filed by a man disputing a family court order to pay Rs. 2,000 per month in maintenance to his wife following the divorce.
The husband contended before the high court that the sitting judge missed the fact that his wife, a degree, earned Rs 10,000 per month from teaching. However, the court determined that the spouse is capable of earning money through manual work given his good health.
“For the sake of argument, if the court presumed that revisionist (husband) has no income from his job or from rent of maruti Van, even then revisionist is duty bound to provide maintenance to his wife, as is held Apex court in the case of Anju Garg Vs. deepak Kumar Garg 2022 and if he engaged himself in labour work also too then also he may earned as a un-skilled labour about Rs.350/- to Rs.400/- per day as a minimum wages,” the court opined while rejecting the man's petition.
The husband contended before the high court that the sitting judge missed the fact that his wife, a degree, earned Rs 10,000 per month from teaching. However, the court determined that the spouse is capable of earning money through manual work given his good health.
“For the sake of argument, if the court presumed that revisionist (husband) has no income from his job or from rent of maruti Van, even then revisionist is duty bound to provide maintenance to his wife, as is held Apex court in the case of Anju Garg Vs. deepak Kumar Garg 2022 and if he engaged himself in labour work also too then also he may earned as a un-skilled labour about Rs.350/- to Rs.400/- per day as a minimum wages,” the court opined while rejecting the man's petition.
"It is the sacrosanct duty of the husband to provide financial support to the wife and to the minor children. The husband is required to earn money even by physical labour, if he is an able-bodied, and could not avoid his obligation, except on the legally permissible grounds mentioned in the statute," the supreme court had observed in Anju Garg's case