The contribution that divorced parents make towards the upbringing of their child should be proportionate to their individual incomes, the Bombay High Court has said.
“While it is correct that both spouses are obliged to contribute towards maintenance of their children, this need
not be an equal contribution,” said the court in a judgment delivered last month.
The court was listening to a petition filed by a Pune resident who had challenged a 2004 family court order that gave the woman custody of their three-year-old child and directed her husband to pay a monthly amount of Rs 800 towards maintenance.
She challenged the ruling, saying the amount was not enough to meet even half the expenses.
A HC division bench accepted her contention and agreed the amount was insufficient.
The judges increased the monthly amount to Rs 1,500, saying: “He [the father] is obliged to provide a sum of maintenance proportionate to his earning and bearing in mind the needs of the child.”
The judges considered the fact that the husband earned Rs 10,000 a month, while the woman earned Rs 3,500 a month.