TOI
Bengaluru: Relying on two Supreme Court judgments, Karnataka high court recently upheld a family court order directing a man to pay Rs 15 lakh as permanent alimony to his wife. It also said courts must strike a fair balance between competing considerations while determining maintenance, a high court division bench of Justice DK Singh and Justice H Shanthi Bhushan noted in an order passed on Aug 20. The court granted divorce on March 20, 2024, and also directed him to pay Rs 15 lakh as permanent alimony. Considering the financial circumstances of both parties and their standard of living, the family court had awarded Rs 15 lakh as permanent alimony to enable the wife to maintain herself with dignity and contribute towards the upbringing of their child, the bench observed.
In the Reema Salkan vs Sumer Singh Salkan and Anju Garg and Others vs Deepak Kumar Garg cases, the apex court had observed that an able-bodied husband cannot avoid his responsibility to maintain his wife and must work to pay maintenance. Their relationship turned sour within three months, following which the husband approached the Bengaluru family court seeking divorce. The high court, however, found no grounds to interfere. It noted that the Supreme Court had issued guidelines requiring both parties to disclose their assets and liabilities so family courts could make a fair and realistic assessment of maintenance. However, these guidelines had not been followed in the present case. The court noted that records showed the petitioner had been employed with CMTI, a govt undertaking under the ministry of heavy industries. The high court consequently dismissed the husband’s petition.