An appellate court cannot arbitrarily reduce interim maintenance for a minor child without providing a reasoned rationale, especially when the spouse seeking the reduction has concealed their actual income, as maintenance proceedings serve a social welfare objective.

UDAY KUMAR, J.: –

1. Justice and equity do not merely dwell in the abstract declarations of statutes; they find their truest manifestation in the scrupulous protection of the helpless and the dependent. When a domestic relationship stands fractured, the legislative shield provided under welfare enactments for women and children must not be blunted by arbitrary judicial reductions untethered from the realities of financial capacity and proof. The present revisional application brings to the fore the delicate yet imperative balance required while evaluating interim maintenance under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘DV Act’ in short) where obfuscation of income by an earning spouse cannot be permitted to prejudice the sustenance of a minor child.

2. This revisional application has been preferred by the petitioner-wife under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, seeking the quashing of the judgment and order dated 2nd January, 2024, passed by the 6th Court of the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Paschim Medinipur, in Criminal Appeal Case No. 51 of 2022 arising out of Misc. Case No. 22 of 2022 under Section 12 of the DV Act, whereby the interim maintenance of the minor daughter of the parties was reduced from Rs. 9,000/- to Rs. 8,000/- per month, bringing the total interim maintenance payout down from Rs. 16,000/- to Rs. 15,000/- per month.

3. The genesis of the present lis traces back to a proceeding initiated by the petitioner-wife under Section 12 of the DV Act, giving rise to Misc. Case No. 22 of 2022 before the learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kharagpur. During the pendency of the main proceeding, the petitioner pressed for interim maintenance for herself and her minor daughter under Section 23(2) of the said DV Act. The learned Judicial Magistrate, Kharagpur, vide a considered order dated 29th October, 2022, evaluated the rival claims, noting that while both parties fell short of producing original documentation to conclusively establish exact income and expenses, the opposite party no. 2-husband was an able-bodied person possessing a sound financial background. The learned Magistrate, taking judicial notice of the soaring prices of essential commodities, the social status of the parties, and documentary material reflecting that the husband had previously drawn a lucrative overseas salary of 5,000 Dirhams, equivalent to roughly Rs. 1,08,000/- in Indian currency, from Etisalat Technology Services, awarded interim maintenance of Rs. 7,000/- per month to the wife and Rs. 9,000/- per month to the minor daughter, directing payment from the date of filing of the Misc. Case with arrears to be cleared in instalments.

4. Aggrieved by the quantum of interim maintenance, the husband preferred an appeal under Section 29 of the DV Act, registered as Criminal Appeal Case No. 51 of 2022 before the Court of the learned Sessions Judge, Paschim Medinipur, which was subsequently transferred to the 6th Court of the Additional Sessions Judge, Paschim Medinipur. The learned Sessions Judge, vide the impugned judgment and order dated 2nd January, 2024, partially allowed the appeal by reducing the interim maintenance of the minor daughter from Rs. 9,000/- to Rs. 8,000/- per month. Dissatisfied with this appellate reduction, the wife has approached this Court via the instant revisional application.

5. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner contends with considerable force that the impugned appellate order was rendered whimsically, perfunctorily, and without any meaningful evaluation of the affidavits of assets and liabilities of the parties. Drawing specific attention to page 45 of the revisional application, learned counsel emphasizes that the opposite party no. 2 was drawing a monthly salary of 5,000 Dirhams in September, 2019, which translated to a substantial sum of Rs. 1,20,000/- in Indian currency. It is further argued that the learned Sessions