A disability certificate did not end a man’s duty to pay Rs 10,000 monthly maintenance, the Kerala High Court has held, upholding the sum for the ex-wife of a man paralysed by a stroke and rejecting his plea that he cannot earn and married only to get a maid for himself and his mother.
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Ernakulam: The Kerala High Court has dismissed a revision petition by a man who suffered a paralytic stroke and upheld a Family Court direction that he pay Rs 10,000 per month as maintenance to his former wife. He cannot evade his responsibility to maintain her, the Court held [XXX v. YYY].
The order, dated September 30, 2026, was passed by Justice G. Girish in RPFC No. 122 of 2024, a challenge to the Family Court’s judgment in MC No. 137 of 2019. As in the order, the parties’ names are withheld.
Disability and means
The Family Court, after analysing the evidence on record, had concluded that the petitioner has sufficient resources to pay maintenance. The High Court found no reason to disturb that conclusion despite the disability certificate. Of the circumstances in which the marriage came about, it said:
After spoiling the life of a lady by resorting to such a dubious method, the petitioner cannot evade from his responsibility to make payment of maintenance to the respondent.
How the marriage and the case unfolded
The parties married on August 1, 2015. It was a second marriage for the petitioner, arranged through a matrimonial advertisement, and it was not consummated. He had suffered a paralytic stroke on October 29, 2012. The Family Court allowed the wife’s divorce petition on the ground of cruelty and rejected her claim for return of gold ornaments, while directing the husband to pay Rs 10,000 per month as maintenance.
The husband’s case in revision
In the High Court, the husband contended that the stroke left him physically incapable of working and earning, and relied on a Medical Board certificate showing 70 per cent permanent locomotor disability. He also told the Court that there were no marital relations between the parties and that he had married only to get a maid servant to look after him and his mother. The wife opposed the revision. These are the parties’ contentions as recorded, and the Court’s findings are set out above.
What the order shows
With the revision petition dismissed, the Family Court’s order for Rs 10,000 per month stands undisturbed. A husband’s disability certificate does not by itself end his duty to pay maintenance when the trial court has found, on the evidence, that he has sufficient resources, and a revision court will ordinarily leave such a finding of fact alone.
Case Title: XXX v. YYY [RPFC No. 122 of 2024, arising from MC No. 137 of 2019]
Bench: Justice G. Girish, Kerala High Court
Date of Order: September 30, 2026
Appearances: For the revision petitioner, Advocates K. Saneesh Kumar and V.B. Santhini; for the respondent, Advocates Ananthakrishnan A. Kartha, Anil D. Kartha, Suresh G., Sharath Eldo Philip, Sreekumar G. and Ananthasankar A. Kartha