ORDER

R. Basant, J. — How unable should a wife be to maintain herself in order to entitle her to claim maintenance under S. 125 Cr.P.C ? This is the crucial question that arises for consideration in this revision petition.

2.The petitioner herein challenges an order passed under S. 125 Cr.P.C directing him to pay maintenance to his wife/claimant @ Rs.2,000/- per mensem. Marriage is admitted. Separate residence of the spouses consequent to strain in matrimony is not disputed. That the petitioner/husband is a business-man having spent about two decades working abroad is also not seriously disputed, though there is a contention that his present business is not lucrative.

The claimant/wife, aged about 39 years when she staked the claim is educationally qualified. She is a post-graduate holding master’s degree in arts. She is professionally qualified and is a law graduate. When they lived in matrimony, the claimant/wife was a housewife and had not pursued any career. She did not have the B.Ed. degree which she asserted was necessary to enable her to secure employment as a teacher now. Though she admittedly held the professional qualification to practice as a lawyer, she had admittedl