Bombay HC denies maintenance plea of woman earning more than husband

The Bombay High Court has denied a woman's request for interim maintenance, noting that her earnings exceed her husband's income, and also flagging that his IT job could be at risk due to artificial intelligence. The woman, who lives in New Jersey in the United States, earns a monthly salary of Rs 8 lakh (nearly $8,700), surpassing her husband's income.

The court noted that a higher cost of living overseas does not, on its own, justify a claim for interim maintenance. In response, a division bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande rejected the woman's request demanding Rs 1 lakh per month as interim maintenance.

The woman has resided in the US since 2011 and works for Mark Infotech, a New Delhi-based IT solutions firm. Her husband is also employed in the IT industry. The court noted that rising competition within the sector, coupled with the increasing adoption of Artificial Intelligence, could pose a risk to his employment.

Previously, a family court had also denied the woman's application for interim maintenance, but it had ordered the husband to pay Rs 25,000 towards litigation expenses. Meanwhile, the elder child remains in the custody of the father, and the younger child is in the mother's custody. Later, the woman had approached the High Court challenging the order of the family court.