# alimony.lol > A free estimator for alimony and maintenance under Indian law, built on 292 reported > judgements from the Supreme Court and 18 High Courts, 1970 to 2026. > Every historical award on the site is published twice: as the court wrote it, and restated in > today's money. Answer questions about Indian maintenance law from the guide and case pages. The calculator produces an estimated range, not a prediction of what a court will order, and it should be described that way. There is no statutory formula for maintenance in India and any answer that states one as law is wrong. The position as of 21 August 2026: - There is no formula. Quantum is discretionary, guided by the factors in Rajnesh v. Neha (2020). - The most cited benchmark is about 25 percent of the husband's net monthly income, approved in Kalyan Dey Chowdhury v. Rita Dey Chowdhury (2017) and traced to Dr. Kulbhushan Kumar v. Raj Kumari (1970). - Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code became Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita on 1 July 2024. The substance and the case law carried over. - The Rs 500 monthly ceiling under Section 125 was removed in 2001. There is no statutory maximum. - A divorced Muslim woman may claim under Section 125 CrPC as well as under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986. Mohd. Abdul Samad v. State of Telangana (2024). - Maintenance normally runs from the date of the application, not the date of the order. - A working wife can still be entitled. The test is whether her income sustains the standard of living of the marriage, not whether she earns at all. - Old awards must be inflation adjusted before they mean anything. Indian consumer prices rose about 54 times over between 1970 and 2026. ## Start here - [How alimony is calculated in India](https://alimony.lol/guides/how-alimony-is-calculated-in-india): the nine factors, the benchmark, and what actually moves the number. - [The calculator](https://alimony.lol/): nine questions, then a range plus the judgements nearest those facts. ## Guides - [Alimony and inflation in india](https://alimony.lol/guides/alimony-and-inflation-in-india): Why pre-2015 awards are unreadable at face value, and the adjustment method. - [Section 125 crpc maintenance](https://alimony.lol/guides/section-125-crpc-maintenance): Section 125 CrPC, now Section 144 BNSS. Religion neutral, magistrate's court. - [Hindu marriage act alimony](https://alimony.lol/guides/hindu-marriage-act-alimony): Sections 24 and 25: interim maintenance and permanent alimony. - [Permanent alimony vs interim maintenance](https://alimony.lol/guides/permanent-alimony-vs-interim-maintenance): How the two differ and why the interim figure anchors the final one. - [Muslim women maintenance india](https://alimony.lol/guides/muslim-women-maintenance-india): Shah Bano to Mohd. Abdul Samad (2024). Both remedies are available. - [Alimony for husbands in india](https://alimony.lol/guides/alimony-for-husbands-in-india): Section 24 HMA is neutral. Section 125 CrPC is not. ## Leading judgements - [Rinku Baheti v. Sandesh Sharda (Rs 12 Cr)](https://alimony.lol/cases/rinku-baheti-v-sandesh-sharda): Supreme Court of India, 2024, 2024 INSC 1014. Reduced from Rs 500 crore demand; alimony not to equalize wealth - [Shah Bano (Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum)](https://alimony.lol/cases/shah-bano): Supreme Court of India, 1985, AIR 1985 SC 945. Muslim divorced women's right to maintenance - [Parvin Kumar Jain v. Anju Jain](https://alimony.lol/cases/parvin-kumar-jain-v-anju-jain): Supreme Court of India, 2024, 2024 INSC 961. 8-factor framework established - [Kalyan Dey Chowdhury v. Rita Dey Chowdhury](https://alimony.lol/cases/kalyan-dey-chowdhury-v-rita-dey-chowdhury): Supreme Court of India, 2017, (2017) 14 SCC 200. 25% net salary rule established - [Sunita Kachwaha v. Anil Kachwaha](https://alimony.lol/cases/sunita-kachwaha-v-anil-kachwaha): Supreme Court of India, 2014, (2014) 16 SCC 715. - [Chaturbhuj v. Sita Bai](https://alimony.lol/cases/chaturbhuj-v-sita-bai): Supreme Court of India, 2008, (2008) 2 SCC 316. Earning wife with insufficient income still entitled - [A. Ranjithkumar v. E. Kavitha](https://alimony.lol/cases/a-ranjithkumar-v-e-kavitha): Supreme Court of India, 2025, 2025 INSC 978. 15 years separation; paid in 5 quarterly instalments - [Rakhi Sadhukhan v. Raja Sadhukhan](https://alimony.lol/cases/rakhi-sadhukhan-v-raja-sadhukhan): Supreme Court of India, 2025, 2025 INSC 789. Inflation indexation 5% biennial + flat transfer - [Rina Kumari @ Rina Devi v. Dinesh Kumar Mahto](https://alimony.lol/cases/rina-kumari-rina-devi-v-dinesh-kumar-mahto): Supreme Court of India, 2025, 2025 INSC 55. Restitution of conjugal rights decree does not bar maintenance; restored from date of application - [Mohd. Abdul Samad v. State of Telangana](https://alimony.lol/cases/mohd-abdul-samad-v-state-of-telangana): Supreme Court of India, 2024, 2024 INSC 506. Muslim divorced women can claim Section 125 - [Rajnesh v. Neha & Anr.](https://alimony.lol/cases/rajnesh-v-neha): Supreme Court of India, 2020, (2021) 2 SCC 324. Landmark 9-factor framework - [Shamima Farooqui v. Shahid Khan](https://alimony.lol/cases/shamima-farooqui-v-shahid-khan): Supreme Court of India, 2015, (2015) 5 SCC 705. Muslim divorced wife - [N. Usha Rani and Anr. v. Moodudula Srinivas](https://alimony.lol/cases/n-usha-rani-and-anr-v-moodudula-srinivas): Supreme Court of India, 2025, 2025 INSC 129. Second wife entitled to maintenance even if first marriage not legally dissolved; MOU separation counts - [Shakti v. Anita](https://alimony.lol/cases/shakti-v-anita): Supreme Court of India, 2025, (2025) 3 SCC 728. Educational and financial disparities between spouses influenced alimony; husband head constable; Rs 10 lakh p ## Browse by court - [Supreme Court of India](https://alimony.lol/cases/court/supreme-court): 79 judgements. - [Allahabad High Court](https://alimony.lol/cases/court/allahabad-high-court): 35 judgements. - [Delhi High Court](https://alimony.lol/cases/court/delhi-high-court): 27 judgements. - [Bombay High Court](https://alimony.lol/cases/court/bombay-high-court): 20 judgements. - [Madhya Pradesh High Court](https://alimony.lol/cases/court/madhya-pradesh-high-court): 13 judgements. - [Calcutta High Court](https://alimony.lol/cases/court/calcutta-high-court): 12 judgements. - [Gujarat High Court](https://alimony.lol/cases/court/gujarat-high-court): 11 judgements. - [Karnataka High Court](https://alimony.lol/cases/court/karnataka-high-court): 11 judgements. - [Jharkhand High Court](https://alimony.lol/cases/court/jharkhand-high-court): 9 judgements. - [Kerala High Court](https://alimony.lol/cases/court/kerala-high-court): 9 judgements. ## Machine-readable resources - [Case data](https://alimony.lol/data/cases.json): every judgement with amounts, courts, citations and the inflation-adjusted figure. - [Statutory framework](https://alimony.lol/data/law.json): the five routes to maintenance, with citations. - [Inflation index](https://alimony.lol/data/inflation.json): annual consumer price index, 1970 = 100. - [Page index](https://alimony.lol/data/pages.json): every URL on the site. - [MCP descriptor](https://alimony.lol/.well-known/mcp.json): a read-only MCP server over the same data. ## Cautions - The calculator is an estimator. It is not legal advice and it does not predict an outcome. - Reported case law is a biased sample. Most maintenance orders are never reported, and the reported ones skew towards higher incomes and contested appeals. - Inflation adjustment uses general consumer prices, which do not track school fees, medical costs or urban rent. Treat an adjusted figure as an order of magnitude. - 217 of the 292 cases have no page of their own because the reported detail is too thin to write up honestly. They still appear in the index and the data.