SC denies maintenance to working woman, cites equal earnings of both husband and wife

The Supreme Court has dismissed a woman’s plea seeking maintenance from her estranged husband, citing that both are employed in the same post and she is financially independent, a TOI report stated.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan refused relief to the woman, who is an assistant professor, stating that there was no ground for interference under Article 136 of the Constitution. “Both the first petitioner and respondent (husband and wife) are holding the same post of an Assistant Professor. No case for interference is made out in exercise of our jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. The special leave petition is accordingly dismissed,” the court said.

Husband argued wife was financially independent

The woman had approached the apex court after her maintenance plea was earlier rejected by the Madhya Pradesh High Court and a trial court. Opposing her claim, her husband, represented by advocate Shashank Singh, argued that she was earning about ₹60,000 per month and held the same job designation as him.
However, the woman contended that her earning capacity should not automatically absolve her husband of his obligation to provide maintenance. She also claimed that her husband’s income was about ₹1 lakh per month. Given the dispute over their salaries, the court had earlier directed both parties to submit salary slips for the past year.

With both spouses found to be employed in similar roles, the Supreme Court upheld the previous rulings and dismissed the plea.