Government of India may have failed to create employment for our youth, but our gender biased laws have ensured that no woman really needs to be employed after divorce.
In a recent judgment passed by the Supreme Court of India, a dead marriage has been dissolved by the apex court, exercising its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, where parties were married just for a year and have been living separately since 9-years.
However, this case has a twist which has created quite a bit of uproar on social media. Read on…
Case:
Parties got married in April 2015. The husband in this case is a senior banker, while the wife is working as an HR Head in one of the private organisations.
The current net income of husband mentioned is Rs 5 lakh per month approximately, while the wife’s current income has been reported as Rs 1.39 lakh per month.
This was wife’s second marriage. She has a minor daughter from first marriage and she had allegedly received a sum total of Rs 40 lakh alimony from the first husband during that divorce.
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Second Marriage Fails
Within a year of the second marriage, in April 2016, the wife initiated proceedings under Sections 498A/323/504 of IPC implying cruelty, and under Sections 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 against the husband.
In May 2016, when the accused husband approached Allahabad High Court for stay against his arrest, both spouses were sent for mediation.
However, the mediation failed and the wife later filed another case in 2016 – namely under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 before Judicial Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar, wherein she sought interim maintenance from her husband under Section 23 of the Domestic Violence Act.
Family Court
In May 2018, the Judicial Magistrate ordered the husband to pay Rs 35,000 per month to the wife, which was challenged by both parties.
In February 2019, the interim maintenance order was modified by the Additional Sessions Judge, Gautam Budh Nagar wherein now, the husband was ordered to pay Rs 45,000 per month to the wife and Rs 55,000 per month to the minor daughter (from wife’s first marriage).
At this stage, the husband kept dodging the system by not paying the interim maintenance awarded by the Court and thus multiple cases were running parallely in different lower courts at one point in time.
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Interim Maintenance
Since the payment had not been received by the wife, she filed a petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482, Cr.P.C. seeking appropriate directions including attachment of the accounts of the husband, in the cases pending before the Mahila Court, Tis Hazari in New Delhi.
In May 2023, the Delhi High Court directed the husband to pay up 10% of the total arrears of interim maintenance due till December 31, 2022, which had by now totalled up to Rs 52,95,000, as immediate interim relief to the wife within a period of 15 days.
Later, the Delhi High Court order of paying up 10% was modified by Mahila Court at Tis Hazari, where the husband was now directed to pay Rs 2 lakh to the wife within twenty-four hours and remaining amount of Rs 3,92,500 (Rupees Three Lakh Ninety-Two Thousand and Five Hundred Only) before June 09, 2023.
Delhi High Court
The arrears were only shooting up and were tallying to Rs 65,00,000, where once again the Delhi High Court instructed the husband to pay 20% of this amount within twenty days. On the other hand, the High Court rejected wife’s plea of attaching husband’s bank accounts due to non-payment of interim maintenance.
Since the husband kept contesting on the interim maintenance awarded, the Delhi High Court directed the Metropolitan Magistrate, Mahila Court at Tis Hazari to decide the quantum of the interim maintenance amount within three months after taking into consideration income affidavit of both the parties.
On the other hand, the wife now challenged this Delhi High Court order on the ground that the respondent husband had disregarded the interim maintenance order by not paying any amount towards interim maintenance since the last 5½ years.
After multiple ongoing cases, the matter reached Supreme Court of India.
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Submissions by Husband
The respondent-husband has contested against these appeals on the grounds that the appellant wife has been gainfully employed all these years during the pendency of the cases, has several assets in the form of immovable property, and has also received Rs 40 lakh for her minor daughter from her first husband.
While both parties vehemently disagreed on the amount of interim maintenance awarded to the wife, they were also in agreement that the relationship had strained between them beyond the scope of reconciliation.
Supreme Court of India
The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prashant Kumar Mishra of the Supreme Court heard the parties in camera to discuss the possibility of a reunion, but during the course of the proceedings both parties stated that they were willing to have their marriage annulled by mutual consent as it now only existed on paper.
At the outset, the top Court analysed how differences between parties arose within first year of marriage and that the two have been living separately since 9-years. The Court then went on to add that multiple mediations had failed and thus it could be concluded that the marriage had been irretrievably broken down. The Court said:
The above admitted facts of long-standing separation between the parties, prolonged and multiple litigations pending adjudication, and several failed attempts at reconciliation are evidence of the fact that the marriage between the parties has completely broken down.
The Supreme Court relied upon multiple judgments and exercised its inherent powers to dissolve this marriage under Article 142 of the Constitution of India where it found that the marriage was dead, unworkable, beyond repair, emotionally perished and has thus irretrievably broken down, even though no grounds for divorce as provided in the applicable law are made out in the facts of the case.
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How was one-time alimony decided?
With regards to full and final one-time settlement the Supreme Court was of the opinion, that the nature of allegations made by the wife were grave, wherein, she had accused her husband of subjecting her to cruelty, hurt, and dowry demands, due to which she had also initiated criminal action against her husband.
The Court added that multiple legal proceedings are pending between the parties and it does not appear to possibly conclude in the near future. Since both parties have mutually agreed that they have no intention of continuing their union as husband and wife, therefore, the Supreme Court was of the opinion that the interest of the wife needs to be compensated and protected through a one-time settlement, while dissolving this marriage.
The issue of interim maintenance was now passè since the marriage had been dissolved and thus the Court had to arrive at one-time settlement figure.
With regards to the calculation, the bench observed that there cannot be a fixed formula for fixing the amount of permanent alimony and only broad principles can be laid down. The question of maintenance is subjective to each case and depends on various factors and circumstances as presented in individual cases.
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The Court relied upon Vinny Paramvir Parmar v. Paramvir Parmar Judgement and stated that it shall consider the following broad factors while determining permanent alimony – income and properties of both the parties respectively, conduct of the parties, social and financial status of the parties, their respective personal needs, capacity and duty to maintain others dependant on them, husband’s own expenses, wife’s comfort considering her status and the mode of life she was used to during the subsistence of the marriage, among other supplementary factors.
The apex Court then relied on Rajnesh v. Neha judgment which stated that the primary objective while deciding the quantum of permanent alimony is to prevent the dependent spouse from being reduced to destitution or vagrancy due to the failure of the marriage, rather than punishing the other spouse.
Having said so, the Court added that the financial capacity of the husband is a critical factor in determining permanent alimony and thus observed:
The court must consider the husband’s standard of living and the impact of inflation and high living costs. Even if the husband claims to have no source of income, his ability to earn, given his education and qualifications, is to be taken into account.
The courts shall ensure that the relief granted is fair, reasonable, and consistent with the standard of living to which the aggrieved party was accustomed. The court’s approach should be to balance all relevant factors to avoid maintenance amounts that are either excessively high or unduly low, ensuring that the dependent spouse can live with reasonable comfort post-separation.
With regards to wife’s own income, the Supreme Court bench once again relied on the Rajnesh V. Neha judgement and stated:
Even if the wife is earning, it does not bar her from receiving maintenance; the Court should assess whether her income suffices to maintain a lifestyle similar to that in the matrimonial home. The judgment also considers the expenses associated with the care of minor children, including educational expenses and reasonable amounts for extracurricular activities.
The Court accessed income affidavits of both parties:
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Husband’s Affidavit:
Husband is working as the Vice President of an MNC Bank earning a gross monthly salary of around over Rs 8 lakh and and a net take home of Rs 5 lakh per month after deductions. He has dependant parents who reside in the United States of America, but they also have a cumulative annual income of over Rs 28 lakh. According to the husband, he is responsible for his parents’ medical expenses and stay when they visit India. The husband also showed his aunt as dependent whose monthly medical expenses of Rs 55,000 were being borne by him. for her. Apart from this, the husband had estimated his personal expenses to be around Rs 4 lakh per month. The wife challenged that the husband also owned a property in Pune which was their matrimonial home and he also owns another immovable property in New Jersey, USA.
The main argument by husband was that the wife was earning well herself, and he had no obligation to maintain her daughter, since he never adopted her legally.
Wife’s Affidavit:
On the other hand, the wife in her affidavit of assets has stated that she is currently working as Head of Human Resources with a private company with a salary of Rs 1,39,000 per month. She stated that she was staying in her parental home for which she paid rent to her parents, and her dependants included her parents and her minor daughter. Though the wife had shown her monthly income as Rs 1.39 lakh, she had estimated that her necessary expenses amounted to over Rs 4 lakh per month.
Apart from this, she also stated that she had to spend around Rs 75,000 per month towards the living and education expenses of her minor daughter. The wife denied having received Rs 40 lakh as permanent alimony from her first husband towards the maintenance of her minor daughter from that marriage.
The wife further submitted that her assets included certain immovable properties which she bought in the last few years.
ALIMONY DEMAND BY WIFE: Rs 5-7 Crore One Time
OFFER GIVEN BY HUSBAND: Rs 50 Lakh One Time
Concluding the matter, the Supreme Court remarked:
Considering the material on record, the factors stated above, the considerations noted herein, and the arguments advanced by the learned senior counsel on both sides, this Court is of the opinion that the demand made by the wife is exceptionally high but, at the same time, the amount offered by the husband is insufficient in the broader rubric of maintenance considerations.
The Supreme Court added:
Keeping in view the totality of the circumstances, the social and financial status of the parties, their current employments as well as future prospects, standards of living, and their obligations, liabilities, and other expenses, a one time settlement amount of Rs 2 Crore would be a balanced and fair amount. This amount would also cover all pending and future claims. Thus, we fix the said amount as permanent alimony to be paid by the husband to the wife within a period of four months.
With regards to multiple criminal cases initiated by the wife, the Supreme Court instructed:
Parties would be at liberty to file certified copies of this (divorce) order before the respective Courts where the cases, both civil and criminal, are pending whereupon the Court concerned shall pass appropriate orders closing such proceedings.
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Voice For Men India Take:
- We are certain after reading the contents of this case and quantum awarded to the wife, most of the men may be completely disillusioned with the concept of marriage and matrimonial laws that exist in India
- We have analysed this case in 5 parts: 1) Duration in Marriage; 2) Earning Capacity of Both Spouses; 3) Quantum Awarded Largely On The Basis Of Husband’s Current Income; 4) No Criminal Charges Proven; 5) Onus of Minor Child From Another Biological Father
- Duration in marriage has to play a critical factor during divorce settlements. Quantum should be awarded on what has been built together as a couple during the years of co-habitation, and not on the overall number of years that the cases get dragged
- In this case, the wife is a highly qualified working professional, has multiple assets in her name and has sustaining on her income for last nine years without any financial support from husband. By awarding alimony to this kind of estranged wife, the Supreme Court defeats the concept of Gender Equality, by implying that our society still believes in patriarchy, where a man is always and the only provider for the woman
- How fair is it to access husband’s current income since parties have separated 9-years ago? Whatever the husband has earned and built in past 9-years has zero contribution from his wife, yet the reward is based on current earnings of the husband. This is nothing but a lottery system for such wives if husbands excel in their careers post separation. However, even in a reverse scenario, where a husband’s income would have reduced post separation, the calculation of alimony would be still equated with the standard of living enjoyed by wife in her matrimonial home
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- What happens to all cruelty/dowry charges levied by the wife? All are dropped and forgone once the monetary settlement has happened. What a travesty of justice for men!
- The Supreme Court has factored in dependents of the wife as well, which includes minor daughter from her previous marriage. Though the child was never legally adopted by the second husband, he has been made accountable towards the expenses of his wife’s dependants. This case should be an eye opener for all men marrying single mothers (no generalisation here, but men must be aware of these laws)
- Overall, this case brings out the dark reality of legal extortion business prevalent in India against the men. One can still refuse to pay dowry before marriage, but husbands after marriage have no escape from this reverse dowry
- A man could be married for even a single day, but from the day he gets married, the sword of such legalised loot starts hanging on him from day 1 of his marriage
- Yes, all wives don’t marry to extort husbands, but the men will always remain at the mercy of their wives thanks to our absolutely lopsided laws that encourage women to project themselves as perpetual handicapped victims
- So all our dear men, before you think of becoming the knight in shining armour for any woman, educate yourselves with matrimonial laws in India
- You could literally be the next participant in this ugly khela (game) of marriage and divorce
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