On Thursday, the Supreme Court emphasized that laws designed for the benefit of women must not be exploited as tools for harassment, intimidation, or extortion against their spouses. The highest court emphasized that alimony is not intended to balance the financial situations of former partners, but instead to ensure that the dependent woman has a decent standard of living.
The Supreme Court’s observations emerged during the widespread anger of a tech worker, Atul Subhas, who claimed that his separated wife and her relatives asked for Rs 2 lakh in monthly support, which was later raised to an annual total of Rs 3 crore.
The court decided that a former husband cannot be required to provide support to his ex-wife indefinitely due to his present financial situation. It was noted that a Hindu marriage was viewed as a sacred institution, serving as a basis for a family rather than a “business transaction.”
“The women must be mindful that these stringent legal provisions available to them are supportive laws for their benefit and not tools for punishing, intimidating, overpowering, or exploiting their husbands,” a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Pankaj Mitha said.
The court made these remarks, ending the marriage of a separated couple due to its irreparable disintegration. The husband was instructed to pay Rs 12 crore as a permanent alimony to his estranged wife as a complete and final resolution of all her claims within a month.
The wife asserted that the estranged husband possessed a net worth of Rs 5,000 crore, owning various businesses and properties both in the US and India, and had given his first wife a minimum of Rs 500 crore during their separation, not counting a house in Virginia.
The court stated that it must “take into account not only the income of the respondent-husband but also consider additional elements like the income of the petitioner-wife, her reasonable needs, her rights to housing, and other related factors.”
“We hold significant concerns regarding the trend of parties pursuing maintenance or alimony as a means to equalize wealth with the other party.” The court noted, “It is frequently observed that individuals in their requests for maintenance or alimony emphasize their partner’s assets, status, and income, subsequently requesting an amount that could equal their wealth to that of the partner.”
