In Brief
A wife married under Hindu rites in 2002 to a man who abandoned her and relocated to Canada filed for maintenance under Section 125 CrPC in 2003. The Family Court granted Rs. 10,000 monthly until 2010, then denied further maintenance. The High Court modified this to Rs. 9,000 monthly from 2010 onward, based on the husband's notional minimum wage. The Supreme Court held this amount unjust. Finding the highly qualified husband (B.Com, MA, MBA) able-bodied and having earned over Rs. 1.77 lakh monthly in Canada, and considering his deliberate litigation delays and prior interim maintenance award of Rs. 20,000 by the Court, the judgment enhanced maintenance to Rs. 20,000 monthly from January 2010 and Rs. 25,000 from June 2018, emphasizing that a husband cannot escape maintenance obligations through false unemployment claims."
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