New Delhi: A court in Delhi rejected a woman’s application for immediate monetary relief under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. The reason the court gave for rejecting the application was that she was highly educated and well capable of earning a living.
The court said allowing her the maintenance would lead to idleness and dependency on her husband. She demanded $50,000 per month as compensation, said Metropolitan Magistrate Swayam Siddha Tripathy, who was hearing the application filed by his wife.
Magistrate said, “The complainant (wife) is highly qualified and capable of finding a source of income for herself and allowing maintenance will only promote idleness and dependency on the husband. Therefore, I am not inclined to grant any maintenance because of her capacity to earn.”
The court said, “The complainant has to prove that either she is not earning or her income is not sufficient to maintain the same standard of living which was provided to her in the matrimonial house.”
Court added, “Thus, both the complainant and her husband are capable of earning but are not employed. Therefore, this argument (of not having any income) cannot be used against one unemployed spouse for providing maintenance to the other unemployed spouse.”
The magistrate stated that in matters of maintenance, equity principles must be applied, citing a 2001 Delhi High Court decision.
It stated that the wife was unable to demonstrate that she was supplied with a better level of living at the matrimonial home, and her existing “family status” did not make it credible that if maintenance was not provided, she would be reduced to destitution or vagrancy.
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Magistrate further added, “Equity means fairness and evenness and it cannot be applied solitarily upon the aggrieved wife. In absence of any dependent, either of the qualified spouses cannot be made responsible for the other’s well-being considering that neither of them is on the verge of destitution.”
The court stated that the woman is from a well-known family and even received compensation from her first husband.
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