A healthy able bodied man cannot be relieved maintaining his wife merely on the ground that he is unemployed or has a very little income: Calcutta High Court.

Form No. J(2 IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CRIMINAL REVISIONAL JURISDICTION The Hon’ble Justice Jay Sengupta C.R.R. 5319 vs Deb Kumar Kar & Anr For the Petitioner Mr. Madan Murari Verma Jay Sengupta J is an application challenging an order dated 10.08.2018 passed by learned Judicial Magistrate Barrackpore North 24 Parganas in M. Case No.329 of 2017 under Section 125 of the Code thereby granting interim maintenance to the tune of Rs.2 000 to the petitioner wife Affidavit of service filed by the petitioner is taken on record. Despite service no one appears on behalf of the private Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner wife submits as follows. The petitioner is the wife of the opposite party no.1. She is a cancer patient. Ever since their marriage in 1992 the petitioner was mentally and physically tortured by the opposite party and her family members. In fact the husband also developed an illicit relation with another woman. The opposite party no.1 husband happens to be a Government licenced electrical contractor and earns more than Rs.90 000 per month. Although the petitioner claimed Rs.35 000 per month towards her maintenance a paltry sum of Rs.2 000 was granted as interim maintenance that too from the date of order. This is too meagre a sum even for the basic sustenance of the petitioner. She has to take medicines valued at more than Rs.2 000 per month. Reliance has been placed on a Consolidated Account Statement of the NSDL of the opposite party no.1 showing that he has shares valued at more than Rs.42 lakhs as on 31.12.2018. Besides he has other immovable assets. Although the learned trial court would be in a position to fix the final amount of maintenance after taking evidence as of now at least a reasonable enhancement of the sum granted as interim maintenance needs to be awarded so that the petitioner can sustain herself I have heard the submissions of the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner and have perused the From the impugned order it appears that the husband’s case was that he was not earning anything and was suffering from carcinoma. A bald assertion of no income cannot be of case before this Court In any event the husband has chosen not to present his Although the learned trial court discussed the averments made by the petitioner wife in her application under Section 125 of the Code and even opined that a healthy able bodied man cannot be relieved maintaining his wife merely on the ground that he is an unemployed or has a little very income it arrived at the paltry sum of Rs.2 000 to be awarded as interim maintenance to the petitioner The sum of Rs.2 000 per month roughly comes to about Rs.66 per day which is grossly insufficient by today’s standards to maintain a married lady that too one who has been suffering from cancer The document filed regarding assets of the husband the assertions made by the wife that the husband is an electrical licensed by the Government and earns about Rs.90 000 per month and the fact that the wife has been suffering from cancer and has to undergo regular treatment and medication are relevant factors to be taken into account It is also to be remembered that a wife is to be maintained by her husband at the standard that she would have enjoyed had she been able to live at her husband’s household Moreover it has been made clear by the Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of Rajnesh vs Neha & Anr. 2 SCC 324 that ordinarily maintenance has to be awarded from the date of application and not from the date of the order In view of the apparent social standing of the couple the medical condition of the petitioner and the rising price indices I consider it fit and proper that the husband opposite party should pay a sum of Rs.10 000 per month as interim maintenance allowance to the wife petitioner payable from the date of the application Accordingly I direct that the husband shall pay interim maintenance allowance at the rate of Rs.10 000 per month to the wife petitioner payable from the date of the application till disposal of the main application I request the learned trial court to conclude the proceeding as expeditiously as possible without granting any unnecessary adjournment to any of the parties preferably within a period of six months from the next date of hearing The Learned Trial Court shall not be swayed by the observations made herein as the same were made only for deciding the issue of interim maintenance With these observations the revisional application is Urgent photostat certified copy of the order if applied for be given to the parties upon usual undertakings (Jay Sengupta J rkd 

Summary: A wife is to be maintained by her husband at the standard that she would have enjoyed had she been able to live in her husband’s household. A single Judge bench comprising Hon’ble Justice Jay Sengupta in the matter of Debi Kar Vs. Deb Kumar Kar and Anr. (C.R.R. 536 of 2019), dealt with an issue where the petitioner filed a revisional application challenging an order dated 10.08.2018 passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate, Barrackpore, North 24 Parganas under Section 125 of the Code, thereby granting interim maintenance to the tune of Rs.2,000/- to the petitioner/wife. In the present case the despite the affidavit- of- service was filed by the petitioner, no one appeared on behalf of the private opposite party. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner was the wife of the opposite party no. 1 and was suffering from cancer. The counsel pointed that that from a very early stage of their marriage, the petitioner was tortured mentally and physically. The counsel also stated that the husband of the petitioner had developed illicit relation with other women while being married to the petitioner. Further, the counsel submitted before the court that the husband of the petitioner was a Government licensed electrical contractor and earned more than Rs.90,000/- per month. Although, the petitioner claimed Rs.35,000/- per month towards her maintenance, a paltry sum of Rs.2,000/- was granted as interim maintenance, that too from the date of order. The counsel submitted that the petitioner being a cancer patient, such amount for maintenance was insufficient for her sustenance. The counsel submitted that the husband had shares valued at more than Rs.42 lakhs as of 31.12.2018 and also owned other immovable assets. The petitioner was on medication worth more than Rs.2,000/- per month. And thereby prayed the court to at least grant interim maintenance that is needed to be awarded so that the petitioner can sustain herself till the trial court fixes the final amount of maintenance after taking evidence. The court stated that– “the husband’s case was that he was not earning anything and was suffering from carcinoma. A bald assertion of no income cannot be of much significance.” Further, the court also observed that– “husband is an electrical contractor licensed by the Government and earns about Rs.90,000/- per month and the fact that the wife has been suffering from cancer and has to undergo regular treatment and medication are relevant factors to be taken into account”. Thereby the court directed the husband to pay an interim maintenance amount of Rs. 10,000/- per month to the wife petitioner, payable from the date of the application, till disposal of the main application. The court also directed the trial court to conclude the proceeding as expeditiously as possible without granting any unnecessary adjournment to any of the parties, preferably within a period of six months from the next date of hearing. Thereby the court disposed of the revisional application.