Husband Cannot Avoid Maintenance Citing Unemployment or Loan Repayments: HP High Court

Financial commitments do not displace maintenance

In Surjeet v. Savitri Devi, the Himachal Pradesh High Court held that a husband cannot avoid his maintenance obligation merely by citing unemployment, weak business income or repayment of loans taken for assets or commercial activity. The wife’s statutory claim cannot be subordinated to financial choices that the husband has made for property or business.

The Court also rejected unsupported assertions of age, illness or inability to earn. Incapacity must be pleaded and proved through cogent, legally admissible material.

Interim maintenance is the rule

While analysing proceedings under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Court said that interim maintenance should ordinarily be granted once foundational facts are established. Discontinuance is exceptional and requires proof of a statutory disqualification, such as one falling under Section 125(4). Under the current procedural framework, corresponding proceedings must be read with the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita where applicable.