Post-divorce alimony is a highly controversial subject. The law stipulates that the husband must pay maintenance to his wife and children after the separation. Recently, the Bombay High Court made an interesting observation on alimony when hearing a Muslim woman’s divorce case.
The Nagpur Bank of the Bombay High Court chaired the hearing of a woman who recently divorced her husband and wanted to increase the alimony he was paying for her and the children. The husband refused to pay alimony and filed a petition for reinstatement with the court. Judge GA Sanap denied his request, citing the court’s determinations Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 for post-divorce maintenance payments to Muslim women.
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Bombay HC on Muslim women maintenance
The case concerned a woman who accompanied her husband to Saudi Arabia in 2006. While she was in another country, disputes arose between her family and her in-laws, who lived in the same building. Due to the quarrel between the families, she claimed that her husband started treating her badly. In 2012 she returned to India with her children and her husband.
In India, he forced her to file a complaint against her family over the dispute with her in-laws. She was physically assaulted for not filing a lawsuit. She left his home and went to her parents’ house with her younger son. Meanwhile, her husband returned to Saudi Arabia without paying her any compensation or child support. She then filed for divorce and alimony.
The man denied the domestic violence allegations and refused to pay alimony, but the hearing court ordered him to pay Rs. 50,000 in compensation and Rs. 2,000 in rent, Rs. 7,500 to the wife and Rs. 2,500 to the child as monthly maintenance expenses. However, the wife filed an application to increase the alimony to Rs. 16,000 monthly.
The man denied the petition on the grounds that the domestic violence claim was filed after the divorce and that she was not entitled to maintenance or alimony under Sections 4 and 5 of the Muslin Women Act. However, the court found that Muslim women are entitled to maintenance in domestic violence cases as long as they do not marry after the divorce under Section 125 of the CrPC. Even after the divorce, the woman can apply for relief to maintain the lifestyle she was used to during married life.
The court noted that the domestic violence allegations were upheld by the hearing court and the man also tried to falsely declare his income in the application as he had been working as a chemical engineer in Saudi Arabia since 2005 and was earning around 100,000 rupees. 3.5 lakhs per month.
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