In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court has directed a Mumbai-based man to pay an interim maintenance of Rs 50,000 per month individually to each of his two minor daughters. The court clarified that the amount is not to be paid collectively for both children.
Clarifying the Family Court's Order
Justice Manjusha Deshpande, presiding over the case on Friday, interpreted a previous order from the Family Court (FC) dated August 2023. The FC had ordered the man to pay Rs 50,000 each to his wife and both daughters. The ambiguity lay in whether "both daughters" meant Rs 50,000 for them together or separately.
The husband had interpreted it as a collective sum of Rs 50,000 for the two girls. However, the wife's advocates, Samarth Moray and Shivani Shinde, argued that the word 'each' clearly meant Rs 50,000 for each daughter individually. They contended there was a lack of clarity in the order.
Background of the Marital Dispute
The couple had married in 2014, and the husband filed for divorce in September 2020. Following the wife's application for interim maintenance in December 2020, both parties signed consent terms in February 2021 for a monthly payment of Rs 20,000. This arrangement continued until the Family Court's final order in August 2023, which the wife subsequently challenged for clarification.
The husband's advocate, Vikramaditya Deshmukh, submitted that his client was already covering school fees and other necessities for the children. He presented receipts for expenses related to school, transport, extra-curricular activities, medicines, and other purchases, arguing the Rs 50,000 was intended collectively.
Court's Rationale and Final Decision
Justice Deshpande examined the list of necessary expenses for the growing daughters and noted that Rs 50,000 per month collectively "also appear to be insufficient." The Family Court had previously observed the father's monthly income was Rs 3.98 lakh and that Rs 50,000 was a meagre amount for two daughters.
"On this background, the word ‘each' used in the order assumes importance… will have to be read as each of the two daughters individually," Justice Deshpande stated.
The wife, a homemaker with no independent income, had sought a monthly maintenance of Rs 3.5 lakh, citing her husband's wealthy lifestyle, ownership of residential property, partnership in a family business, and use of a BMW car. While the court noted the wife's claim of Rs 3.87 lakh in monthly expenses lacked detailed breakdown, it emphasized that "maintenance has to be in proportion to the needs of the children."
Furthermore, Justice Deshpande modified the Family Court's order regarding the payment start date. Citing settled law, she directed that maintenance must be paid from the date of the wife's original application (December 2020). The husband must now pay the arrears after adjusting the Rs 20,000 already paid monthly under the consent terms.
