Divorcee with a new family gets Supreme Court help

The Supreme Court on Wednesday came to a man’s rescue after he found it difficult to pay his ex-wife’s maintenance. 

The man’s ex-wife was granted divorce from a lower court in 2012 and awarded Rs 16,000 alimony per month. But on appeal, the award was enhanced to Rs 23,000, roughly 25 per cent of the man’s net salary, by the Calcutta High Court in 2016. 

As per a 1970 SC judgment, it was held that 25 percent of a husband's net salary was just. The amount awarded to the wife must be befitting the status and capacity. The maintenance is always dependent on the factual situation of the case and a court is justified in modifying it. 

In the mean time, the husband remarried and a son was born. Finding it difficult to maintain two homes, he approached the top court for relief. He contended that his ex-wife was a certified beautician and a Montessori teacher earning Rs 30,000, while his son from the first wife was 18 years old. The ex-wife however contested that though her son was a major, the money was required for expenses towards his (the son's) higher education. 

A bench of Justice R. Bhanumati and Justice M Shantanagouder observed that current facts must be taken in account. The bench submitted that the husband now had a new family - a wife and a son, a fact that needed to be kept in mind. 

Hence, in the interest of justice, the alimony was reduced from Rs. 23,000 to Rs. 20,000 which amounts to less than 25 per cent of the husband's net salary.