Maintenance enhanced to Rs. 20,000 monthly, prospectively from 1 November 2026.

The petitioner-wife, claiming to be the legally married wife of the respondent, alleged continuous physical and mental cruelty and stated that she had been living separately since 23 July 2021.

She asserted that she had no independent source of income and was unable to maintain herself, while the respondent, employed as an Office Superintendent in the High Court of Tripura, had sufficient financial capacity to pay enhanced maintenance.

The Family Court, Agartala, by judgment dated 28 January 2026 in Crl. Misc. No. 368 of 2023, awarded maintenance of ₹18,000 per month.

The wife challenged the adequacy of that amount and sought enhancement to ₹30,000 per month or such other amount as the Court deemed appropriate.

Whether the maintenance of ₹18,000 per month awarded by the Family Court was inadequate and warranted enhancement in view of the parties’ financial circumstances and the respondent’s earning capacity?

If enhancement was warranted, from what date should the enhanced amount become payable and whether arrears were payable for the period preceding that date?

The Court exercised revisional jurisdiction under Section 438 read with Section 442 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, along with Section 19(4) of the Family Courts Act, 1984.

The governing maintenance principle requires the Court to assess the claimant’s inability to maintain herself alongside the respondent’s actual financial capacity, liabilities, and the overall circumstances of the parties.

The quantum of maintenance is discretionary and must be fixed on a fair assessment of the parties’ financial status rather than on the respondent’s income alone.

The Court considered the wife’s plea that ₹18,000 per month was insufficient for her subsistence and her reliance on the respondent’s alleged income and purchase of a vehicle.

It also considered the respondent’s contrary claim that his net salary was only approximately ₹40,000 per month and that he had an obligation to support his daughter pursuing higher education.

Upon examining the record and weighing the totality of the circumstances, including the parties’ financial positions and competing liabilities, the Court concluded that some enhancement was justified, but not to the extent of ₹30,000 sought by the petitioner.

The Court accordingly increased the maintenance by ₹2,000 per month and limited the operation of the enhancement to a prospective date.

The Family Court’s award was modified, and the respondent-husband was directed to pay the petitioner-wife ₹20,000 per month, enhanced from ₹18,000 per month, with effect from 1 November 2026.

The enhanced amount was payable from November 2026 onward, and no arrears of the enhanced portion were payable for any period before 1 November 2026.

The petition was disposed of with this modification; any stay was vacated and pending applications, if any, were closed.