The ex-husband cannot be expected to retain his ex-wife in accordance with her current status all her life; Alimony should not equalize wealth: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court observed that a divorced wife cannot seek permanent alimony simply to attain a wealth status equal to that of her ex-husband. The Court expressed reservations about the tendency in matrimonial proceedings to seek alimony or alimony, as part of an “equivalence of wealth with the other party”.

Although the wife is entitled, as far as possible, to the same standard of living to which she was accustomed in the matrimonial home, the husband cannot be expected to maintain her according to his present status in life. Simply because the husband moved out and achieved a better financial situation after the separation, the divorced wife cannot seek higher alimony.

“We wonder if the wife would be willing to seek equalization of wealth with her husband if, due to unfortunate events occurring after the separation, he became poor?” » asked the Court.

A bench including Justice BV Nagarathna And Justice N. K. Singh expressed their concerns as follows:

“We have serious reservations about the tendency of parties to seek alimony or alimony as an equalization of wealth with the other party. We often see that the parties, in their request for maintenance or alimony highlights the assets, status and income of one’s spouse, then asks for an amount that can equal one’s wealth to that of the spouse. There is, however, an inconsistency in this practice, as requests for equalization are only made in cases where the spouse is a wealthy person or is in good health. But such requirements are conspicuously absent in cases where the spouse’s assets have decreased since the separation. There cannot be two different approaches to requesting and granting alimony or alimony, depending on the status and income of the spouse. The law on alimony aims to empower the most deprived and to achieve social justice and the dignity of the individual. The husband has a legal obligation to provide sufficiently for his wife. In accordance with established law, the wife has the right to be maintained, as far as possible, in a manner similar to that to which she was accustomed in her marital home when the parties were together. But once the parties separate, the husband cannot be expected to maintain her in her current status throughout her life. If the husband has progressed and is happily doing better in life after separation, then to ask him to always maintain the status of wife in accordance with his own changing status would be to place a burden on his own personal progress.

The Court decides the question of permanent alimony after the dissolution of a marriage deemed irretrievably broken.

The petitioner (wife) claimed that the respondent (husband) owned assets worth Rs 5,000 crore in the US and had given alimony of Rs 500 crore to his first wife.

The Court expressed surprise that the applicant was seeking to equalize his status not only with that of the respondent, but also with that of his ex-wife. Ultimately, the Court fixed the permanent alimony at a figure of Rs.12 crores.

“The Court must here not only consider the income of the respondent husband but also keep in mind other factors such as the income of the petitioner wife, her reasonable needs, her residency rights and other similar factors. Thus, his right to alimony must be determined based on the factors applicable to him and does not depend on what the defendant paid his ex-wife or solely on her income,” indicates the judgment.

The court expressed in its judgment that the dispute over the amount of alimony is usually the most contentious point between the parties in such matrimonial proceedings, supplemented by a plethora of accusations aimed at withdrawing income and property coverage of the other part. Reference was made to the principles set out in the judgments Kiran Jyot Maini vs Anish Pramod Patel(2024), Rajnesh vs Neha(2020)

Case: Rinku Baheti v Sandesh Sharda

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 1021

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