The court also rejected husband's submission to accept their mutual settlement agreement, in which the man agreed to give her Rs 12.5 lakhs as full and final amount, and grant decree of divorce.
Ruling that it is the duty of husband to take care of the health and safety of his wife, the Supreme Court directed a man to pay Rs five lakh immediately to his estranged wife, who is suffering from breast cancer, in a matrimonial dispute case.
The court also rejected husband's submission to accept their mutual settlement agreement, in which the man agreed to give her Rs 12.5 lakhs as full and final amount, and grant decree of divorce.
A bench headed by Justice M Y Eqbal said "it is a primary duty of the husband only to provide facilities for the treatment of the wife. This is a pre-existing duty of the husband, provided the husband has sufficient means and he is diligently doing his part in taking care of her. In the present case, by the settlement agreement the man is promising to do something which he is already duty bound, is not a valid consideration for the settlement."
Noting that "it seems that the wife agreed for divorce by mutual consent on the condition that the husband will pay her Rs 12,50,000 as full and final settlement. The woman is suffering from such a disease which has compelled her to agree for the mutual consent divorce."
"The fact that the wife is ready for the mutual consent divorce after knowing about her medical condition raises a suspicion in our mind as to whether the consent obtained from the wife is free as required by law for granting the decree of divorce by mutual consent," the bench also comprising Justice C Nagappan said.
The bench referred to the study of Hindu Law and different religious books, saying that after marriage law enjoins the "corresponding" duty on the husband to look after her comforts and not only to provide her food and clothes but to protect her from all calamities and to take care of her health and safety.
The court was hearing a petition filed by the woman seeking her matrimonial dispute case to be transferred to Hydrabad from a family court in Mumbai.
In the course of hearing, the parties were allowed to go for mediation. The wife and husband mutually agreed to for divorce after the man agreed to pay her Rs 12.5 lakh as full and final settlement.
Allowing her plea, the court said after the wife is fully cured from the disease or within six months whichever is earlier, the Family Court at Hyderabad shall take up the case along with a fresh application that may be filed by the parties for divorce by mutual consent.
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