Archive · 14 Sep 2026
Madhya Pradesh High Court Sets Aside Wife’s Maintenance Award
A court had ordered a man to pay his wife Rs 30,000 every month.
The wife believed the amount was too low and asked for more money from an earlier date.
The High Court said the lower court had estimated the man’s income at Rs 1.5 lakh per month.
However, it did not properly explain why the payment was set at Rs 30,000.
The man had also not provided salary papers when ordered to do so.
The High Court said the lower court should have considered that failure when assessing his income.
The wife was already receiving Rs 10,000 monthly under another law, but she later disclosed this information.
The High Court therefore set aside the family court’s order.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court set aside a family court order awarding the wife Rs 30,000 monthly maintenance.
The family court assessed the husband’s monthly income at Rs 1.5 lakh but did not adequately explain the maintenance amount.
The High Court said the husband’s failure to produce salary documents could justify an adverse inference against him.
The wife had sought higher maintenance and payment from her original application date, September 6, 2021.
The court also considered her existing Rs 10,000 monthly Domestic Violence Act maintenance and her initial failure to disclose it.
- Who
- A wife, her husband, the family court, and the Madhya Pradesh High Court, presided over in this matter by Justice Dwarka Dhish Bansal.
- What
- The High Court set aside a family court order awarding the wife Rs 30,000 per month in maintenance.
- When
- The High Court order was pronounced on September 8; the article also reports later evidence dates and a family court order in June, creating a date inconsistency.
- Where
- Madhya Pradesh, India.
- Why
- The family court did not adequately explain the maintenance amount after assessing the husband’s income at Rs 1.5 lakh monthly and did not properly address his failure to produce salary documents.
Wife’s Position
Husband’s Position
Amount of maintenance
Wife’s Position
The wife challenged the Rs 30,000 monthly award, seeking a higher amount because the family court had assessed her husband’s income at Rs 1.5 lakh per month.
Husband’s Position
The article does not report a specific argument from the husband defending the Rs 30,000 amount.
Starting date
Wife’s Position
The wife sought maintenance from the date of her original application, September 6, 2021, rather than only from June 1, 2025.
Husband’s Position
The article does not state the husband’s position on the requested starting date.
Financial disclosure
Wife’s Position
The wife argued that the maintenance decision should account for the husband’s failure to produce salary documents after being directed to do so.
Husband’s Position
The husband did not provide the required salary documents; the article does not give his explanation for that failure.
- High Court
- Madhya Pradesh High Court
- Judge
- Justice Dwarka Dhish Bansal
- Maintenance set by family court
- Rs 30,000 per month from June 1, 2025
- Husband’s assessed income
- Rs 1.5 lakh per month
- Existing maintenance
- Rs 10,000 per month under the Domestic Violence Act
- Original maintenance application
- Filed by the wife on September 6, 2021
- Marriage and separation
- Married June 17, 2019; living separately since January 16, 2020
- Reported date discrepancy
- The article lists evidence completion in September 2025 and May 2026, while also referring to the High Court order as pronounced on September 8 and the family court order as passed in June.