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The parties’ marriage gave rise to multiple matrimonial proceedings, culminating in a decree of divorce passed by the Family Court on the ground that an earlier decree for restitution of conjugal rights had remained uncomplied with. The wife challenged the said decree in the present appeal.
The Karnataka High Court held that subsequent remarriage does not per se extinguish a wife’s right to permanent alimony but is a material change which needs to be considered while determining the quantum.
Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, started his legal career from the District Courts and then High Courts of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, was later appointed as Supreme Court Judge on 18 May 2023.
The Court held that the marriage was dead for all practical purposes, warranting to be nullified under Article 142 to grant a decree of divorce.
“She is entitled in law to lead a life in the similar manner as she would have lived in the house of her husband, as that is where the status and strata come into place, and that is where the obligations of the husband, in case of a wife, become prominent.”
The Court observed that the husband, being a judicial officer holding a responsible public position, owed a heightened duty of fair, adequate, and dignified financial security for his wife and daughter.
“Grave and irreparable harm would continue if a reasonable assessment were not made, and there would be no inconvenience to the husband in paying a slightly larger sum towards the maintenance amounts claimed by the wife.”
‘This Court treats it very seriously and condemns the conduct of the husband as on one hand, he has shown his bona fide intent to take care of his two daughters, who are aged about seventeen and twelve years respectively but on the other hand he did not disclose his income in figure.’
Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, who started his legal career from the District Courts and then High Courts of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, was appointed as Supreme Court Judge on 18-5-2023.
“The wife was not seriously interested in reconciliation and there was no evidence indicating withdrawal of the husband from her society without reasonable cause and her claims of the husband demanding divorce during their cohabitation were not substantiated by cogent evidence.”
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“The statutory provisions for maintenance are intended to protect the spouse, children or parents from destitution and vagrancy, and they declare the public policy of the nation. Thus, the above legal principle is equally applicable to an agreement attempting to contract out of the provisions of the Act.”
The Court opined that the appellant was entitled to a level of maintenance that is reflective of the standard of living she enjoyed during the marriage, and which reasonably secures her future.
The Family Court while decreeing the dissolution marriage, had directed the appellant-husband to pay a sum of Rs. 70 lakhs towards permanent alimony to the respondent-wife.
Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah is the sitting Judge of the Supreme Court of India. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in February 2023. He has formerly served as a Judge in Patna High Court and Andhra Pradesh High Court.
“Without demanding permanent alimony in the written statement or by a separate application, Trial Court would not have granted permanent alimony to the respondent/wife.”
As far as the conciliation efforts were concerned, the Court noted that all efforts of mediation/ conciliation to reunite the parties had failed.
“For the act of cruelty committed, once arrest of parents of a spouse is caused on false allegations or allegations found to be false during a criminal trial, no further or strict proof of cruelty may be prescribed or applied by Courts.”
“A Hindu marriage is a sacrament and not just a social contract where one partner abandons the other without reason or just cause or existing or valid circumstance necessitating that conduct, the sacrament loses its soul and spirit, though it may continue to hold its external form and body.”