Increased salary, rise in cost of living valid grounds to increase maintenance, rules Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has enhanced a separated wife’s maintenance from ₹10,000 to ₹14,000, noting that the rise in her estranged husband’s income and the growing cost of living warranted revision.

The couple, married in 1990 and separated since 1992, remained legally wedded after a divorce plea was dismissed in 2011.

Initially, a family court fixed ₹10,000 maintenance in 2012, but her 2018 plea for enhancement was rejected. The High Court found the family court had overlooked the husband’s increased pension of ₹40,068. 

The Court also directed the reinstatement of her name in the CGHS card, recognising it as a valuable marital right.