India, July 12 -- The Delhi high court has held that while the husband need not beg, borrow or steal to maintain his wife and child, he cannot his responsibility while leading a lavish life.

A bench of justices Navin Chawla and Renu Bhatnagar delivered its ruling on July 9, while dealing with a plea filed by a man against a family court's November 2024 order directing him to pay Rs.1,00,000 to his wife and Rs.2,25,000 to his minor child as monthly maintenance. The family court while computing the maintenance had taken note of the man's affluent background and the fact that they were residing together in a posh area of Defence colony.

In his petition, the man had asserted that the maintenance was arbitrary and exorbitant since it was cal...