Can states limit maintenance to wives, asks SC

Centre Had Abolished Ceiling By 2001 Amendment

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has frowned upon some states fixing an upper limit on maintenance to be paid to an estranged woman by her husband despite the Centre removing the cap by an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code in 2001.



A Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra said once a central legislation had abolished ceiling on maintenance to be given to women during pendency of divorce or matrimonial proceedings, states could not continue with laws providing maintenance at a decadeold rate.
While issuing notices to the five states — Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Tripura — the Bench asked them to file their responses within four weeks.
By a 2001 amendment to Section 125 of CrPC, Parliament had removed the ceiling of Rs 500 as maintenance to a woman living separately from her husband due to matrimonial disputes or pending divorce proceedings. Though some state governments had earlier carried out amendments to Section 125 of CrPC, they had put another figure, like Rs 3,000 in some cases, as the maximum limit for monthly maintenance to a wife, irrespective of how much the husband earned.
This meant that even if a husband was reasonably well off, he could live apart from his wife in case of a marital dispute by just paying a maximum of Rs 3,000.
The Bench frowned upon this, terming it a legally incongruous situation.