Karnataka High Court: No Artificial Deductions from Salary for Lower Maintenance Payments

The Karnataka High Court has issued a significant ruling stating that “artificial” deductions, such as house rent recovery and provident fund contributions, cannot be applied to a husband’s salary to reduce the maintenance granted to an ex-wife. Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar, presiding over a single-judge bench, emphasized that items like provident fund contributions, house rent recovery, and furniture recovery should not be deemed valid deductions similar to income tax and should not diminish the maintenance allocated to the former wife or daughter.

This judgment stems from a petition where a husband challenged the family court’s decision to grant maintenance of Rs. 15,000 to his wife and Rs. 10,000 to his daughter under Section 125 CrPC. The court ruled that only compulsory deductions such as income tax and professional tax could be considered for maintenance calculations, dismissing other deductions like provident fund contributions and house rent recovery.

The court highlighted that allowing such artificial deductions could create a precedent where husbands might attempt to mislead the courts systematically to reduce maintenance payments in cases filed under Section 125 of Cr.P.C. The judge stated that the husband, who works as a manager at the State Bank of India, had arranged deductions with an intent to show a lower take-home salary, which the court deemed as an attempt to pay a reduced amount of maintenance.

In conclusion, the court ruled in favor of the family court’s decision, stating that the petition lacked merit, and ordered the husband to pay the awarded maintenance of Rs. 15,000 to the respondents in the case.