The Supreme Court’s order comes amidst the ongoing controversy over the death of a Bengaluru-based techie, who accused his wife and in-laws of harassment and extortion.
The Supreme Court emphasized that these factors serve as a ‘guideline’ rather than a ‘rigid formula’ for determining permanent alimony.
The Supreme Court has outlined eight factors to be considered when determining the amount of permanent alimony.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B. Varale outlined the eight-point formula during a hearing on a divorce settlement case on Tuesday.
In this case, the court observed under the jurisdiction of the Hindu Marriage Act that the marriage had “irretrievably broken down.” However, it determined that the only issue requiring consideration was the grant of permanent alimony to the wife, as reported by Live Law.
The eight factors laid down by the Supreme Court for Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash’s case are:
- Social and financial status of the parties
- Reasonable needs of the wife and dependent children
- Individual qualifications and employment status of both parties
- Independent income or assets possessed by the applicant
- Standard of living the wife experienced in the matrimonial home
- Employment sacrifices made due to family responsibilities
- Reasonable litigation expenses for a non-working wife
- Husband’s financial capacity, including his income, maintenance responsibilities, and liabilities.
The Supreme Court clarified that these factors are not a ‘rigid formula’ but rather serve as a “guideline” for determining permanent alimony.
Citing a previous judgment (Kiran Jyot Maini v Anish Pramod Patel), the Supreme Court bench stated, “As we observed in Kiran Jyot Maini, it is important to ensure that the permanent alimony amount does not penalize the husband but is intended to secure a decent standard of living for the wife.”
Amid the outrage over the Bengaluru-based techie’s suicide, the Supreme Court, in a separate case, issued a warning against the misuse of cruelty laws in marital dispute cases filed by women against their husbands.
The Supreme Court had remarked that the cruelty law should not be misused as a “personal weapon for vengeance.”
The techie’s death, along with his suicide note mentioning harassment by his wife and in-laws, has triggered widespread outrage over the misuse of dowry laws in the country. Police also discovered a placard inside the man’s home that read, “Justice is due.”
The techie notably claimed that his estranged wife and her family had demanded ₹3 crore to settle the false cases they had filed against him.