Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court, on Wednesday, condemned an attempt by a chartered accountant, an estranged wife, to misrepresent her income in a bid to secure higher maintenance from her husband. The court overturned the lower court’s order granting Rs 50,000 in monthly maintenance and directed a reconsideration of the matter.
Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta observed that the woman had deliberately withheld crucial financial details from the lower court, which had granted her interim maintenance. Furthermore, she attempted to mislead the High Court by submitting three affidavits on the same day, each citing different income figures and employers. In one affidavit, she claimed a monthly salary of Rs 1,75,000 from a company, while another stated that she earned an additional 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. However, in a third affidavit, she declared herself unemployed.
“Given these circumstances, she is not entitled to the requested interim maintenance. She is highly educated, earns more than her general expenses, and is fully capable of supporting herself. Her income is nearly equivalent to her husband’s and sufficient to maintain a comparable standard of living,” Justice Gupta stated in his February 19 judgment.
The couple married on January 29, 2020, and lived in Indore. However, marital disputes led the woman to move back to her parental home on November 12, 2020. She later filed a complaint against her husband and his family at Belur police station under Section 498A and other relevant IPC provisions, as well as the Dowry Prohibition Act. She also sought Rs 1,80,000 in maintenance and Rs 1,50,000 as interim relief. The lower court granted her Rs 50,000 as interim maintenance.
The husband, a staff software engineer earning Rs 1,93,669 per month, challenged this order in the High Court. Meanwhile, the woman submitted three different affidavits listing inconsistent monthly expenses—Rs 1,70,000, Rs 1,80,000, and Rs 1,00,000.
