Marriage Alimony Case: You must have heard many cases of divorce.. but the case we are going to tell about today is quite unique. The husband and wife got divorced after a few months of marriage. When the matter reached the court, the wife demanded Rs 500 crore for maintenance. The matter was resolved when the file was filed in the Supreme Court. First we will tell you about the entire case and then we will also tell you what decision the Supreme Court gave on the wife’s petition.
What is the whole matter?
An Indian-American national who runs a successful IT consultancy in the US married a woman from India on July 31, 2021. This was his second marriage. When he got divorced after his first marriage, he gave an allowance of Rs 500 crore to his wife. His second marriage also ended in divorce after a few months. After this, like the first wife, the second wife also demanded Rs 500 crore from her husband as maintenance.
Husband’s appeal and court’s decision
The husband filed an appeal in the Supreme Court under Article 142 of the Constitution. In which there was a demand to cancel the marriage. However, the Supreme Court ordered him to pay Rs 12 crore to his second wife. Who opposed his appeal and demanded permanent maintenance like his first wife.
Court’s displeasure
According to the report, the bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Pankaj Mittal expressed displeasure over the demand for equal maintenance for the second wife. He said that the second wife had spent some time with her husband. Equal maintenance cannot be claimed as compared to the first wife. In the 73-page judgment, Justice Nagarathna wrote, “We have serious objection to the practice that maintenance is considered a means of equalizing property between husband and wife. Many times women mention their husband’s property, status, income etc. in their petition. Then demands a sum of money that is equal to their property.” The bench further said that the maintenance law is meant to protect the wife from poverty, maintain her dignity and ensure social justice. The Court emphasized that the law entitles the wife to maintain the same standard of living as she enjoyed in her marital home.
The bench raised the question
The bench raised the question whether the wife should have the right to equitable distribution of property if the husband faces financial difficulties after separation. He highlighted the absence of a clear formula for determining maintenance and said that the second wife does not have the right to demand the same financial support as the first wife. Especially if the husband’s income has reduced.
What was the demand of the second wife?
The second wife said in the application that apart from the permanent alimony of Rs 500 crore, the first wife also got a house in Virginia, USA. The husband proposed to give a permanent amount of Rs 20 to 40 lakh to the second wife. Stating this, he spent very little time with them and within a short time several legal cases were filed against him.
Supreme Court’s final decision
The Supreme Court ordered to give Rs 10 crore to the husband as permanent maintenance. Besides, an order was also given to pay an additional Rs 2 crore to vacate the two flats of the woman’s father-in-law in Pune and Bhopal. Apart from this, the husband will also have to pay Rs 30 lakh as expenses of the case.
