Bengaluru: Relying on two Supreme Court judgments, Karnataka high court recently upheld a family court order directing a man to pay Rs 15 lakh as permanent alimony to his wife.In the Reema Salkan vs Sumer Singh Salkan and Anju Garg and Others vs Deepak Kumar Garg cases, the apex court had observed that an able-bodied husband cannot avoid his responsibility to maintain his wife and must work to pay maintenance. It also said courts must strike a fair balance between competing considerations while determining maintenance, a high court division bench of Justice DK Singh and Justice H Shanthi Bhushan noted in an order passed on Aug 20.In the case at hand, the couple got married on Feb 5, 2009. At the time, the husband was employed with the Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI), while the wife worked at a private establishment.Their relationship turned sour within three months, following which the husband approached the Bengaluru family court seeking divorce. The court granted divorce on March 20, 2024, and also directed him to pay Rs 15 lakh as permanent alimony.Challenging the alimony order, the husband argued that his wife had neither specifically sought permanent alimony nor produced evidence to support such a claim. He also contended that she earned Rs 30,000 a month, while he was already paying Rs 15,000 per month as maintenance.The high court, however, found no grounds to interfere. It noted that the Supreme Court had issued guidelines requiring both parties to disclose their assets and liabilities so family courts could make a fair and realistic assessment of maintenance. However, these guidelines had not been followed in the present case.The bench also rejected the husband’s contention that he had no source of income, observing that this, by itself, did not absolve an able-bodied and qualified man of his moral responsibility to maintain his wife.The court noted that records showed the petitioner had been employed with CMTI, a govt undertaking under the ministry of heavy industries. Considering the financial circumstances of both parties and their standard of living, the family court had awarded Rs 15 lakh as permanent alimony to enable the wife to maintain herself with dignity and contribute towards the upbringing of their child, the bench observed.The high court consequently dismissed the husband’s petition.
