Permanent Alimony Shouldn't Penalize Husband But Should Ensure Decent Living For Wife : Supreme Court Lists Out Factors

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (Dec. 10) directed a husband to grant permanent alimony of Rs. 5 Crores to the wife as a one-time settlement upon dissolution of the marriage.

While directing the same, the bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B. Varale stressed the father's obligation to maintain and care for his child and directed the husband to make a provision of Rs. 1 Crore for his major son's maintenance and financial security.

The appellant (husband) and respondent (wife) lived separately for about two decades after six years of marriage. While the husband had alleged that the wife was hypersensitive and treated his family indifferently, the wife alleged that the husband's behavior was not good towards her.

Considering the fact that the parties were living apart for a long, and there was no chance to join the matrimonial obligations, the court deemed the marriage was 'irretrievably broken down'.

Although there were other issues pertaining to jurisdiction or interim maintenance under the Hindu Marriage Act, upon irretrievable breakdown of marriage, the Court found that the only issue that required consideration was the grant of permanent alimony to the wife.

Before deciding the permanent alimony of Rs. 5 Crores, the Court referred to the cases of Rajnesh v. Neha (2021) and Kiran Jyot Maini v. Anish Pramod Patel (2024) to look upon the factors that need to be considered while deciding the permanent alimony amount.

The Court culled out the following factors that required due weightage while deciding the permanent alimony amount:

"i. Status of the parties, social and financial.

ii. Reasonable needs of the wife and the dependent children.

iii. Parties' individual qualifications and employment statuses.

iv. Independent income or assets owned by the applicant.

v. Standard of life enjoyed by the wife in the matrimonial home.

vi. Any employment sacrifices made for the family responsibilities.

vii. Reasonable litigation costs for a non-working wife.

viii. Financial capacity of the husband, his income, maintenance obligations, and liabilities."

The Court added that the aforesaid factors do not lay down a straight jacket formula but act as a guideline while deciding permanent alimony.

The Court noted that the permanent alimony amount should be decided in such a manner that does not penalize the husband but ensures a decent standard of living for the wife.

"As held by us in Kiran Jyot Maine (Supra), it is also necessary to ensure that the amount of permanent alimony should not penalize the husband but should be made with the aim of ensuring a decent standard of living for the wife."

Looking towards the fact that the wife was unemployed and worked as a homemaker while the husband was employed in a managerial role in a foreign bank earning Rs 10 to Rs. 12 Lacs salary per month, the court deemed it appropriate to keep the permanent alimony amount to be Rs. 5 Crores as part of the one-time settlement towards the dissolution of marriage.

Appearance:

For Petitioner(s) Ms. Mukta Gupta, Sr. Adv. Mr. Viresh B. Saharya, AOR Mr. Ujas Kumar, Adv. Ms. Tara Narula, Adv. Ms. Nitya Gupta, Adv. Ms. Aditi Gupta, Adv. Mr. Akshat Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Rishabh Mathur, Adv.

For Respondent(s) Mr. Sanjay Jain, Sr. Adv. Ms. Anu Narula, Adv. Mr. Sarfaraz Ahmad, Adv. Ms. Harshita Sukhija, Adv. Mr. Nishank Tripathi, Adv. Ms. Palak Jain, Adv. Mr. Rishi Raj Sharma, AOR

Case Title: PARVIN KUMAR JAIN VERSUS ANJU JAIN

Citation : 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 969

Click here to read/download the judgment

Related Report: 'Permanent Alimony Is Awarded To Ensure Decent Living Standard For Wife' : Supreme Court Reiterates Factors To Be Considered