Archive · 14 Aug 2026
High Court: Rs 22,000 Army family maintenance not shockingly high
A man who works for the Army did not want to pay money to help take care of his wife and two children.
He said the children were not his and asked for a special test to prove it.
A family court had earlier said he must pay Rs 22,000 every month to support them.
The man went to a higher court called the Chhattisgarh High Court to complain.
The judge said the amount was fair because the man earns about Rs 76,000 every month and also gets money from farmland.
The court also said the wife stays at home and does not have her own income.
The children are four years old and two years old.
The court decided the man should pay Rs 10,000 for his wife, Rs 7,000 for one child, and Rs 5,000 for the other child.
The judge said the money is needed for food, medicine, and school.
So the man has to keep paying the money to help his family.
The Chhattisgarh High Court upheld Rs 22,000 in monthly maintenance for an Army employee's wife and two children.
Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha said the amount was not "shockingly on the higher side" given the man's gross monthly salary of Rs 76,701.
The husband had challenged the family court's October 2024 order, denying paternity of the two children and seeking a DNA test.
A family court had dismissed the DNA test application in March 2022 and had fixed interim maintenance at Rs 15,000 per month in 2021.
Maintenance was split as Rs 10,000 for the wife, Rs 7,000 for the four-year-old son and Rs 5,000 for the two-year-old son.
- Who
- An Army operation room assistant, his wife and their two young sons, and Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha of the Chhattisgarh High Court.
- What
- The Chhattisgarh High Court upheld a family court order directing the man to pay Rs 22,000 per month in maintenance to his wife and two children.
- When
- The high court order was passed on August 6, 2026, following the family court's October 25, 2024 order.
- Where
- Chhattisgarh.
- Why
- The court found the amount reasonable given the man's monthly salary of Rs 76,701 and agricultural income, and because the wife was a homemaker with no independent income.
Husband's arguments
Wife and court's view
Paternity of the children
Husband's arguments
The husband claimed the two children were not his and sought a DNA test to prove it.
Wife and court's view
The family court dismissed the DNA test application in March 2022, and the high court upheld maintenance for both children.
Wife's earning capacity
Husband's arguments
The husband claimed his wife worked as a private school lecturer earning about Rs 15,000 per month, plus around Rs 6,000 from tailoring and beauty parlour work.
Wife and court's view
The court noted the woman was a homemaker with no independent source of income and was therefore unable to maintain herself.
Fairness of the maintenance amount
Husband's arguments
The husband argued the amount was too high and that the trial court wrongly presumed his salary to be Rs 80,000 per month.
Wife and court's view
The court held the amount was not "shockingly on the higher side" given his Rs 76,701 salary, agricultural income and family expenses.
- Total monthly maintenance upheld
- Rs 22,000
- Husband's gross monthly salary
- Rs 76,701
- Maintenance breakdown
- Rs 10,000 (wife), Rs 7,000 (4-year-old son), Rs 5,000 (2-year-old son)
- Family court order date
- October 25, 2024
- High court order date
- August 6, 2026
- Interim maintenance (2021)
- Rs 15,000 per month
- Agricultural income
- Rs 50,000-60,000 per year from 3-4 acres of ancestral land
- Court
- Chhattisgarh High Court, Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha