Kolkata: On Wednesday, the Calcutta High Court criticized an attempt by a chartered accountant, an estranged wife, to misrepresent her income in order to claim higher maintenance from her husband. The HC set aside the lower court’s order granting Rs 50,000 in monthly maintenance and directed it to reconsider the matter.
Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta noted that the woman not only withheld crucial information from the lower court, which had granted interim maintenance of Rs 50,000, but also attempted to mislead the HC single bench by submitting three affidavits on the same day, each showing different income figures and employers. In one affidavit, she claimed to earn Rs 1,75,000 per month from a company, while another stated that, in addition to this amount, she earned Rs 10,000 to Rs 18,000 per month from home tuition, bringing her total income to Rs 1,85,000–Rs 1,93,000. In a third affidavit, she declared herself unemployed.
“As such, she is not entitled to interim maintenance as requested. Moreover, she is well-educated and earns more than her general expenses. She is fully capable of supporting herself with her own income and can maintain a standard of living comparable to her husband’s, as her earnings are nearly equivalent and sufficient,” Justice Gupta stated in his February 19 judgment.
The couple married on January 29, 2020, and resided in Indore. However, due to marital disputes, the woman moved to her parental home on November 12, 2020. She later filed a complaint at Belur police station against her husband and his family under Section 498A and other relevant sections of the IPC, as well as the Dowry Prohibition Act. Additionally, she petitioned the magistrate for maintenance of Rs 1,80,000 and interim maintenance of Rs 1,50,000. The lower court granted interim maintenance of Rs 50,000.
The husband, a staff software engineer earning Rs 1,93,669 per month, challenged the order in the High Court. Meanwhile, the woman submitted three different affidavits, each listing varying monthly expenses—Rs 1,70,000, Rs 1,80,000, and Rs 1,00,000.