When husband lives in luxury, wife & child cannot be left in lurch: HC

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has said if a man has been leading a life of luxury, his wife and children cannot be left in the lurch.

Enhancing the maintenance granted by the husband to the wife from Rs.75,000 per month to Rs.1,50,000 per month, the High Court said that when the husband could maintain a fleet of cars and pay a business loan of Rs.7,72,000 per month, he could surely maintain the wife and son in the same luxury.

“When the husband is or has been in the realm of luxury lifestyle, the wife and the son, in the considered view of the court, cannot be left in the lurch. If the husband has been living a good life, the wife cannot be asked to lead a life, which is lower the life than that of the husband that too taking care of the needs of herself and education of her son,” Justice M Nagaprasanna said in his common judgement dated September , dismissing the petition filed by the husband and allowing the petition filed by the wife on the same issue.

The wife, who happens to be the daughter of a former High Court judge and the husband, a businessman, challenged a Family Court’s October 1, 2022 order directing him to pay Rs.75,000 per month as maintenance.

The couple were married in 2001 and have a 21-yearold child. The couple had started business together and later the wife transferred all her shares to the husband. She transferred Rs.1.64 crore deposited in her name to the husband. She also started her own companies.

A site allotted to her father was gifted to her and she transferred it to her husband. After construction of a house on it, the husband transferred it back to her, which is said to be worth Rs.7 crores.

The wife filed a criminal case against the husband in 2021 and another petition for annulment of the marriage. Her application seeking maintenance was allowed by the Family Court, which then reached the HC.

The husband’s counsel claimed that the wife had her own companies and was in a position to maintain herself. He claimed to have a business loan which required him to pay Rs.7,72,000 per month and therefore the Rs.75,000 maintenance was on the higher side, which he cannot pay.

The wife’s counsel argued that “every month the husband spends `12/- lakhs for himself and has a fleet of cars that he is maintaining. He is willing to maintain cars and not wife and his son.”

The HC in its judgement said that the social status of the wife and child has to be maintained by the husband. “Due regard should be given to certain relevant factors like social status of the parties and the kind of life that the wife and son were living while they were all staying together. It is not a luxury lifestyle that can be demanded by the wife,” it said.

The HC also noted that the husband had taken a loan of Rs.2.43 crore for which he was paying EMI of Rs.7,72,818 after the proceedings between the two began.

“The wife in turn, has also filed her assets and liabilities statement and the bank statement. Until March 2022, the earning of the wife per month is Rs47,736, while the expenditure of the husband per month even according to his indication is Rs11 lakhs,” the HC noted.

Apart from the monthly maintenance of Rs.1.5 lakh, the HC also directed the husband to “pay litigation expenses incurred by the wife and educational expenses of the child.” (WP 2688/2023, WP 24296/2022)