Supreme Court’s New Guidelines On Payment Of Maintenance In Matrimonial Matters Include ‘Equal Lifestyle To Wife’

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday, issued guidelines on payment of maintenance in matrimonial matters. The bench comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and R. Subhash Reddy held that maintenance in all cases will be awarded from the date of filing the application for maintenance, LiveLaw.in reported.

The court said that for payment of Interim Maintenance, the Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities shall be filed by both parties in all maintenance proceedings, including pending proceedings before the concerned Family Court / District Court / Magistrates Court, as the case may be, throughout the country, the report said.

The bench was disposing an appeal against a judgment of Delhi High Court. In October, last year, the court had appointed Senior Advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Anitha Shenoy as Amicus Curiae to assist it, in this regard. They had also submitted a report.

The appeal was against a Delhi High Court order which had upheld the order of Family Court which had directed the husband to pay interim maintenance of Rs. 15,000 per month from 01/09/2013 to the wife and Rs. 5000 per month to the child from 01/09/2013 to 31/08/2015 and thereafter to pay to the child Rs. 10,000 per month from 01/09/2015 till further orders, the report said.

The High Court had observed that the wife is also entitled to a lifestyle similar to that of the husband during the pendency of the proceedings before the Family Court. To come to the conclusion that the husband is leading a luxurious lifestyle, the bench had taken note of the Facebook post showing him flaunting photographs of wildlife taken in various parts of the world, using expensive camera and lens equipment.