Gujarat HC demands husband to pay his wife 15 lakh rupees as permanent maintenance

Ahmedabad, June 27 (IANS): The Gujarat High Court has dismissed a woman’s appeal against a divorce granted in favor of her husband on grounds of cruelty and desertion. The court ordered the husband to pay 15 lakh rupees as permanent maintenance to the wife for the welfare of their child who is living with the mother.

A panel composed of Justices Ashutosh Shastri and Justices Divyesh A. Joshi found that the couple had been separated for over eight years and had reached a point of no return in their relationship.

Taking into account the allegations and counter-allegations made by both parties, the court concluded that reconciliation was no longer possible, which led to the dismissal of the appeal.

The couple tied the knot in 2009 and had a child in 2011. In 2015, the husband filed a family lawsuit, seeking divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, citing cruelty and desertion. The divorce was granted in 2017, but the woman appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.

The woman’s lawyer, PP Majmudar, argued that the lower court’s verdict was wrong and ignored important evidence. He contended that the allegations made by both parties canceled each other out, making it unjust to grant a divorce solely on the basis of cruelty and desertion allegations. Majmudar also stressed that the woman was forced to leave her home due to the harassment from the man’s family.

On the other hand, lawyer Abhishek Mehta, representing the husband, defended the family court’s decision, emphasizing the wife’s improper behavior throughout the marriage. To support his argument, he cited cases of alleged cruelty.

The Supreme Court found that the parties had been living apart since August 2014 and agreed with the family court’s conclusion that it was a matter of cruelty and desertion. The court found the marriage irretrievably broken up and dismissed the wife’s appeal.

However, the court also took into account the husband’s financial situation and the future of their child and stressed the need for the husband to pay Rs 15 lakh as permanent maintenance for the welfare of the child.