NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 22, 2004: Delhi High Court judge, Justice Vikramajit Sen, made history recently by ruling that “as much as one half of the husband’s earnings should be divided equally among the other members of the family.” He further added, “The archaic rule (of allowing only 1/5th of the husband’s disposal income as alimony) was a vestige of a bygone era where the wife/women was considered inferior to the husband as somewhat akin to his chattels. The courts have held that the deserted wife was entitled to an equal division of matrimonial assets. I would be extremely loath to restrict maintenance to 1/5th of the husband’s income where this would be insufficient for the wife to live in a manner commensurate with her husband’s status or similar to the lifestyle enjoyed by her before the marital severance.” The article says, “The ruling came in case in which the court increased monthly maintenance paid by the husband to the wife from US$146 to $326, when the husband’s disposable income was $696 per month, and though it was also observed that the wife and child were actually entitled to $348.”
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