Rinku Baheti Vs Sandesh Sharda 2024 INSC 1014 - Women Protection Laws - Misuse - Art. 142 Constitution - Irretrievable Breakdown Of Marriage
Matrimonial Laws - Permanent Alimony - Maintenance -The tendency of parties seeking maintenance or alimony as an equalization of wealth with the other party- The wife is entitled to be maintained as far as possible in a manner that is similar to what she was accustomed to in her matrimonial home while the parties were together. But once the parties have separated, it cannot be expected of the husband to maintain her as per his present status all his life. If the husband has moved ahead and is fortunately doing better in life post his separation, then to ask him to always maintain the status of the wife as per his own changing status would be putting a burden on his own personal progress. We wonder, would the wife be willing to seek an equalisation of wealth with the husband if due to some unfortunate events post-separation, he has been rendered a pauper? - If there is a continuing obligation on the husband post-separation, he may seek a reduction in the maintenance amount. Equally, a divorced wife, in the context of receiving monthly maintenance from a former husband can seek enhancement of the same owing to inflation or other circumstances which have adversely affected her status and position such as serious illness or loss of income from a particular source, etc.- The duration of the marriage would also be a relevant factor to be taken into consideration while assessing the permanent alimony to be paid to the wife. (Para 14)
Hindu Marriage Act - Section 13B -If the ingredients of sub-section (1) of Section 13B of HMA are established by both spouses, it has to be construed as an instance of irretrievable breakdown of marriage inasmuch as the parties in unison state that there has been an actual separation between them for a period of one year or more and they have not been able to live together and they have mutually agreed that the marriage should be dissolved- The only aspect on which the Court has to be satisfied is that the marriage had been solemnised between the parties and the averments in the petitions are true and the Court is satisfied that the consent has been arrived at out of free volition of the parties and without any coercion or undue influence exercised by any of them on the other. (Para 8.13)
Permanent Alimony - There is no fixed formula for calculating maintenance amount; instead, it should be based on a balanced consideration of various factors. These factors include and are illustrative but are not limited or exhaustive, they are adumbrated as under: i. Status of the parties, social and financial. ii. Reasonable needs of the wife and dependent children. iii. Qualifications and employment status of the parties. iv. Independent income or assets owned by the parties. v. Maintain standard of living as in the matrimonial home.vi. Any employment sacrifices made for family responsibilities. vii. Reasonable litigation costs for a non-working wife. viii. Financial capacity of husband, his income, maintenance obligations, and liabilities. (Para 14.3)
Women Protection Laws - Misuse -The provisions in the criminal law are for the protection and empowerment of women but sometimes are used by certain women more for purposes that they are never meant for. In recent times, the invocation of Sections 498A, 376, 377, 506 of the IPC as a combined package in most of the complaints related to matrimonial disputes is a practice which has been condemned by this Court on several occasions. In certain cases, the wife and her family tend to use a criminal complaint with all the above serious offences as a platform for negotiation and as a mechanism and a tool to get the husband and his family to comply with their demands, which are mostly monetary in nature -The women need to be careful about the fact that these strict provisions of law in their hands are beneficial legislations for their welfare and not means to chastise, threaten, domineer or extort from their husbands. (Para 10)