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(B) Further in the case of Rajnesh Vs. Neha and another : Criminal Appeal No. 730 of 2020 (Arising out of SLP (Crl.) 9503 of 2018) decided on November 4, 2020 : 2020 SCC Online SC 903 the Apex Court has discussed about the determinants of maintenance allowance payable to wife and children. In the said judgment it has been observed as follows:

"III Criteria for determining quantum of maintenance:
(i) The objective of granting interim / permanent alimony is to ensure that the dependant spouse is not reduced to destitution or vagrancy on account of the failure of the marriage, and not as a punishment to the other spouse. There is no straitjacket formula for fixing the quantum of maintenance to be awarded.

The factors which would weigh with the Court inter alia are the status of the parties; reasonable needs of the wife and dependant children; whether the applicant is educated and professionally qualified; whether the applicant has any independent source of income; whether the income is sufficient to enable her to maintain the same standard of living as she was accustomed to in her matrimonial home; whether the applicant was employed prior to her marriage; whether she was working during the subsistence of the marriage; whether the wife was required to sacrifice her employment opportunities for nurturing the family, child rearing, and looking after adult members of the family; reasonable costs of litigation for a non-working wife. [Refer to Jasbir Kaur Sehgal v District Judge, Dehradun & Ors. (1997) 7 SCC 7, refer to Vinny Paramvir Parmar v Paramvir Parmar (2011) 13 SCC 112.] In Manish Jain v Akanksha Jain : (2017) 15 SCC 801 this Court held that the financial position of the parents of the applicant-wife, would not be material while determining the quantum of maintenance. An order of interim maintenance is conditional on the circumstance that the wife or husband who makes a claim has no independent income, sufficient for her or his support. It is no answer to a claim of maintenance that the wife is educated and could support herself. The court must take into consideration the status of the parties and the capacity of the spouse to pay for her or his support. Maintenance is dependent upon factual situations; the Court should mould the claim for maintenance based on various factors brought before it.

On the other hand, the financial capacity of the husband, his actual income, reasonable expenses for his own maintenance, and dependant family members whom he is obliged to maintain under the law, liabilities if any, would be required to be taken into consideration, to arrive at the appropriate quantum of maintenance to be paid. The Court must have due regard to the standard of living of the husband, as well as the spiralling inflation rates and high costs of living. The plea of the husband that he does not possess any source of income ipso facto does not absolve him of his moral duty to maintain his wife if he is able bodied and has educational qualifications. [Reema Salkan v Sumer Singh Salkan (2019) 12 SCC 303]

(e) Serious disability or ill health:
Serious disability or ill health of a spouse, child/children from the marriage/dependant relative who require constant care and recurrent expenditure, would also be a relevant consideration while quantifying maintenance."

9. Having taken into consideration, the relevant factors for determining the quantum of maintenance in the light of the legal principles laid by the Apex Court and the facts of the present case, this Court is of the view that the amount of maintenance as awarded is appropriate and there is no irregularity, illegality or impropriety in the order impugned.