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Supreme Court of India· 20 August 2026

Does the amount fixed as interim maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure prejudge the final adjudication of the main maintenance petition?

SUJATA KUMARI & ORS v. RAHUL KUMAR & ANR
2026 INSC 896 · SLP (CRIMINAL) No.9661 of 2026
Coram: Vikram Nath; Sandeep Mehta
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Answer

No. The main petition under Section 125 of the CrPC remains pending before the Family Court and is to be decided on its own merits without being influenced by the findings recorded in the interim orders under challenge.

Headnote

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — Section 125 — Interim maintenance — Revisional interference — Shared parental obligation — CrPC, 1973 — s.125 — Interim maintenance — Revisional interference — Held: A revisional court cannot reduce interim maintenance fixed by the Family Court without a finding that its assessment was perverse or that the amount awarded was excessive; it gave no such finding here. (¶9) CrPC, 1973 — s.125 — Shared parental obligation — Non-monetary contribution — Held further: The obligation to maintain children is shared by both parents, but is not divided by arithmetic alone; the wife also earning is not, by itself, ground to halve the father's liability, since her care of the children is a real contribution too. (¶9, 10) CrPC, 1973 — s.125 — Interim order restored — Held further: The High Court's order reducing interim maintenance is set aside and the Family Court's order restored, with arrears payable within three months; the main maintenance petition remains to be decided on its own merits. Appeal allowed. (¶14, 15, 16)

In the Court's own words
Paragraph 13We may also note that the main petition under Section 125 of the CrPC, being Case No.355/2022, is still pending adjudication before the Family Court, and that the present proceedings concern only interim maintenance. For this reason as well, we find no ground to interfere with the quantum determined by the Family Court.
Paragraph 15The main application under Section 125 CrPC shall be decided on its own merits without being influenced by the findings recorded in the orders under challenge in the present petition.
Acts & Sections
Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

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Also decided in this judgment
Can a revisional court reduce interim maintenance awarded under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure without finding the Family Court's assessment perverse or the amount excessive?Under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, does a wife's own earnings, by itself, justify halving the father's interim maintenance liability for their children?
Plain-language answer prepared by the LexStreak Editorial Desk — verify against the judgment. Source: Supreme Court of India. Corrections