The Bombay high court upheld the order passed by the civil court in Bhagyashri vs Jagdish, 2022. In this case civil court held that wife who is working as a teacher in a school should pay maintenance to her husband of nearly 3000 rupees. The court also directed the principal to deduct 5000 rupees from the salary of wife for paying maintenance to the husband of the previous year.

Wife contended before the court that they got divorced in 2015 after their marriage of twenty-three years. Now he cannot ask for monthly maintenance.

Section 24 and section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act states that a spouse in need can claim temporary or permanent alimony, in case of restitution of conjugal rights or divorce passed.

The couple, who got married on April 17, 1992, divorced after the woman appeared in court in 2015 for cruel reasons. After the divorce, the husband filed an application requesting her wife to maintain her monthly fee of  15,000 rupees permanently.

 The husband claimed that she had no source of income while her wife had her master’s and bachelor’s degrees. I work at a university. He in particular claimed to have managed his home and set his ambitions aside to encourage women to graduate. Moreover,  the divorce made him very embarrassed. The husband also quoted his sick and healthy real estate that does not own the real estate.

However, the wife claimed that her husband ran a grocery store and an auto-rickshaw and earned money by renting them. In addition, she was responsible for taking care of her daughter.

 However, the judge said her husband’s application under Article 24 of the Act, which allows her spouse to claim preliminary court costs, could be granted. Therefore, she was ordered to pay a dependent allowance for Rs. 3000 until the claim for dependents is decided.