The Delhi High Court has ruled that interim maintenance cannot be determined with mathematical precision, especially in cases involving foreign income. The court held that mere earnings in foreign currency do not automatically justify higher maintenance.
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NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has ruled that interim maintenance awarded to a spouse cannot be determined with mathematical precision, especially in cases involving foreign income. Enhancing a woman’s interim maintenance from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh per month, the court clarified that mere earning in foreign currency does not automatically entitle a wife to claim maintenance by mechanically converting the husband’s income into Indian currency.
Justice Amit Mahajan made these observations while deciding cross-revision petitions filed by both the wife and the husband challenging a May 2023 order of a family court. While the wife sought enhancement of the interim maintenance amount, the husband contested the very grant of maintenance.
In its order dated December 23, the High Court observed:
“The determination of interim maintenance is not an exercise capable of mathematical precision.”
The court noted that in many matrimonial disputes, particularly where one spouse is employed abroad and fails to provide complete financial disclosures, the court is compelled to rely on estimation and informed guesswork.
“More often than not… the assessment necessarily involves a degree of estimation and informed guesswork,”
the court said.
Justice Mahajan emphasised that at the interim stage, the court cannot conduct a detailed or roving inquiry into the final financial entitlements of the parties. Instead, it must arrive at a reasonable figure based on available material, surrounding circumstances, lifestyle indicators, and the admitted earning capacity of the earning spouse.
The High Court recorded that it was undisputed that the husband is gainfully employed as a software engineer with Amazon.com Services LLC and is currently residing in the United States.
At the same time, it was admitted that the wife is unemployed. The wife had claimed that her husband earns approximately ₹1.76 crore per annum and had filed an affidavit detailing his income in US dollars along with prevailing currency conversion rates.
However, the court cautioned against directly equating foreign income with Indian standards of living.
A key aspect of the ruling was the court’s clear stance on foreign earnings.
“Mere earning in foreign currency does not, by itself, entitle the wife to claim maintenance by mechanically converting the husband’s foreign income into Indian currency,”
the court held.
Justice Mahajan pointed out that a person residing abroad also incurs expenses in foreign currency. The cost of living and lifestyle standards in countries like the US cannot be equated with those prevailing in Delhi or other parts of India.
“The standard as well as the cost of living in the US cannot be equated with that prevailing in Delhi,”
the court observed.
Therefore, the court ruled that the entirety of the husband’s income could not be equalised or proportionately mirrored in the maintenance amount payable in India.
Taking into account all relevant factors, including the husband’s earning capacity, the wife’s unemployment, and the cost of living abroad, the High Court enhanced the interim maintenance from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh per month.
The enhancement was described as a broad, reasonable and rounded-off assessment, rather than a formula-based calculation.
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