Not paying maintenance to wife, children economic abuse, rules Kerala High Court

4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 30, 2026 01:08 PM IST Kerala High Court says it is the moral as well as legal obligation of a husband to maintain his wife and child irrespective of his financial capacity. (AI generated Image)Holding that a husband’s non-payment of maintenance amounts to “economic abuse” and constitutes an act of “domestic violence”, the Kerala High Court upheld an award directing him to pay Rs 20,000 as monthly maintenance to his wife and minor daughter (Rs 10,000 each), besides Rs 2 lakh as compensation for emotional distress. Justice Jobin Sebastian, while dismissing the man’s application for the reduction of maintenance granted to his estranged wife by the session and magistrate courts, held that the amount awarded was neither “excessive” nor disproportionate to the “ge